The Seven Millennium Items
by IncurablyAwesome
Summary: A team of archaeologists digging in Egypt uncover a mysterious stone buried in rubble, containing seven gold artefacts. However, shortly after this discovery hits newspapers around the world, they are mysteriously stolen. Please R&R :D
1. The Items: Rediscovered

A team of archaeologists digging in Egypt uncover a mysterious stone buried in rubble, containing seven mysterious gold artefacts. However, shortly after this discovery hits newspapers around the world, these artefacts are mysteriously stolen. Yugi Moto is up for one final adventure to retrieve the seven Millennium Items. (Post storyline, in case you didn't guess...all characters the same as in the series, but Yugi and Bakura have no sexy alter-egos in their Millennium items anymore. Yes, I would forgive you all for running away screaming from this fanfic for that very fact.)

* * *

It had been two years since Yugi Moto had parted ways with the Pharaoh. He was still the undefeated King of Games, but nothing had really been the same since his Duel with Atem. Téa was studying dance in New York, Duke still lived nearby in his game shop, but the two of them rarely crossed paths, and he hadn't spoken to Bakura, Joey or Tristan in at least seven months. He hadn't even seen either of the Kaiba brothers since he had returned to Japan after his fateful trip to Egypt.

He had expected that he and his friends would go their separate ways after finishing high school, but it still hurt that it had happened so quickly, especially after everything that they had been through together.

He didn't even have the Millennium Puzzle anymore. Even now, after two years since he had left it in the Millennium Stone alone with the other six items, he missed its reassuring weight around his neck. It had been his treasure for eight years even before he had first learned of its powers, and although he had left it in the heat of the moment while running for his life, he still wished he had it, even as nothing more than a memento of Atem.

He still lived in the Game Shop with his Grandpa, and it was for that very reason that it was one of the most popular game shops in Japan. Every day, it was swamped with adoring fans, all wanting to meet the famous Yugi Moto, the King of Games. It was certainly a thriving business.

But there were still nights in which Yugi would simply sit in his room and reflect, remembering everything. that had happened. He and his friends had been through a lot, and even though it had turned out for the best, for everyone, it was hard to just move on to a regular life.

It was on one of these nights that his life would change again, for another adventure.

He had already been in bed for an hour, staring at the ceiling. The shop and the surrounding street were silent. He rolled onto his side restlessly. Nothing happened in his life anymore except working in the shop, winning Duel Monsters tournaments and being swamped by fans. He longed for the times he had spent with all of his friends, thinking with a sigh that as soon as the world saving was finished, they had been split up.

And on this passing thought, the phone rang.

Yugi sat up in bed. _Who would be calling at this hour?_ he wondered, getting to his feet and making his way down the hallway.

"Hello, Game Shop," he said, yawning, as he held the phone to his ear.

"Yugi? Is that you? It's Bakura."

"Bakura?" Yugi was silent for a moment, not at all upset to be hearing from an old friend, but surprised at the circumstances in which it had happened. "What-"

"I'm sorry to have called you like this," Bakura went on, "but I couldn't wait until morning – have you got a copy of today's newspaper?"

Yugi's hand found the light switch, and he blinked several times to adjust to the change of brightness. He made his way to the paper bin and pulled out the paper that his Grandpa had finished with earlier that day.

"Yes, what is it?" He was already wide awake, brimming with curiosity as to what had been so important to Bakura that it had driven him to call in the middle of the night.

"Turn to page twelve and read the article on the bottom." The emotion in Bakura's voice was difficult to make out; somewhere between excitement and dread. Yugi flipped to page twelve.

The picture with the article alone was enough to strike him speechless for several seconds. "That's-"

"Read," Bakura urged.

"_During an excavation of a collapsed cave in Egypt, a team of archaeologists stumbled upon what appears to be a large stone statue. Embedded in slots in different places around the stone are seven gold ancient Egyptian artefacts; an eye, a necklace, a set of scales..._" Yugi didn't need to finish. The picture had been enough; the Millennium Stone and the seven Millennium Items.

"Someone found them," he breathed.

"It goes on to say that the artefacts will be placed on display in a museum in Cairo," Bakura continued. "Then the rest of the site will be excavated."

Yugi was silent. He knew that any further excavation of the site would only reveal the sealed door to the spirit world, which would be a cause for great excitement for the archaeologists, but would hold no real bearing on his life. No, it was the Millennium Items he was worried about; if anyone who knew about their power were to learn of their rediscovery, and their location in the museum...all of them, together in the one place...

"This is bad." He didn't know what else to say.

"Very bad," Bakura agreed. "If the wrong people got a hold of them, there would be disaster. Even without the spirits of the Pharaoh and the other me, the items on their own would..."

"And with news of it in newspapers everywhere..."

Neither of them said anything for another minute or so. Finally, Yugi spoke up. "Without Shadi, I would say that the best people to talk to about this would be Ishizu and Marik. They've doubtlessly already heard about it."

"We should contact them right away."

Yugi had a thought. "You know, Ishizu runs an ancient Egyptian artefact exhibition," he said. "For all we know, that's the one that's hosting the items and we have nothing to worry about." But if not...

"Yes, but we shouldn't take chances."

Yugi understood Bakura's concerns; he of all people knew how dangerous a Millennium Item could be.

Yugi looked at the clock. It was already quarter past eleven. That meant that it would be quarter past four in the afternoon in Egypt. "Then what are we waiting for?"

* * *

Since she had learned of the rediscovery of the Millennium Items twenty-fours hours beforehand, Ishizu Ishtar had been trying to make an offer on them that the archaeologists couldn't refuse.

And she had been unsuccessful. The fact that her exhibition was currently on its way to a museum in Europe didn't help, especially now that it had been announced to the world that the items would be displayed in the Cairo Museum.

The truth was, she knew that the chances of disaster arising from the items' discovery were slim; very few people knew of the power that they held, and those that did knew from experience that their power was not to be reckoned with lightly. Not to mention that any 'newly discovered' Ancient Egyptian artefacts would be under top security.

But the idea of their whereabouts being published in newspapers around the world unsettled her. To anyone determined enough, stealing them would be easy. And if that happened...

She wouldn't let it happen. She would make a deal with the archaeologists and have them for her exhibit. Then they would be mysteriously 'stolen', and she and her brothers would find them a safe resting place where there power would be out of anyone's reach. They would disappear from the public's memory.

Ishizu had barely left the phone all day, exchanging calls with archaeologists and the curator of the Cairo Museum. The call that arrived at half past four didn't seem out of the ordinary until she had already answered it.

"This is Ishizu Ishtar," she said, hoping that she would be able to sort out something soon; she hadn't slept at all the previous night.

"Hi, Ishizu." The voice that greeted her was Japanese, which instantly grabbed her attention. "This is Yugi Moto."

"Hello, Yugi." She already knew the reason for his call; she didn't need to be able to see the future to know that. "I presume that you've read about the rediscovery of the Millennium Items."

The brief phone delays seemed incredibly long at the moment, Ishizu decided.

"Yes, I have." There was a short pause before he continued; "Please tell me you've got them."

"Not yet, but trust me; I have everything under control. I'm organising to have the items bought for my own exhibition, and then Marik, Odion and I will find a place to hide them. Preferably separate, since it's obviously a bad idea to keep them all together."

Ishizu wasn't entirely convinced of her own words, and when Yugi spoke up next, it was obvious that he wasn't either. "Well, if you're sure." His voice was full of doubt.

"I am – don't worry, we'll take care of this. Don't get yourself and your friends involved; there's nothing you can do."

While Ishizu waited through the phone delay for Yugi's parting words, she found herself staring into space. _I just hope that the same doesn't apply to me._

* * *

After saying his farewells to Ishizu, Yugi sat down for a minute, thinking. Bakura had made Yugi promise to call him as soon as he had finished talking to Ishizu, but it could wait a moment.

Yugi knew that the best way to completely remove any chances of this happening again would be to destroy the Millennium Items once they were found again, and if Ishizu hadn't already figured that out, then she was in denial.

Sighing, he went back to his room and took out the box that had held the Millennium Puzzle while in its incomplete form. Despite the fact that he no longer owned the Puzzle, it saddened him to think of it being melted down, or even simply disassembled, never to be completed again.

Suddenly it occurred to him that this could be his last opportunity to see it; he could go to Egypt and see it in the museum, unless Ishizu was able to get the items before they were displayed.

He shook his head and made his way back to the phone. He had already decided that he would never see his Puzzle again; this should never have happened, so it wasn't going to change that.

He gave another sigh and picked up the phone to call Bakura.


	2. A Prison Break

Hi folks, this is IncurablyAwesome here!

I'd like to thank you for reading this far – I'd definitely appreciate all reviews and feedback, whether positive or negative. All feedback is good feedback, even negative feedback (I just made that up :P)

I'd just like to let you guys know that my plan is to upload one new chapter every Saturday/Sunday, Australia time, until I've published all of this. I'm really sorry to leave anyone hanging in between each upload, especially later on when I start ending on cliffhangers, but that's the way it has to be. I'm REALLY sorry D:

Anyways, thanks again for reading and PLEASE tell me what you think, whatever that may be ;P and so, without any further ado, let us commence chapter two... (hey, that rhymes!)

* * *

Since he had seen the Pharaoh lose a Duel at the hands of Yugi Moto, Kaiba had been obsessed with preparing for his next Duel with Yugi.

It was obvious that Yugi had only beat the Pharaoh because the Pharaoh had let him win; there was no other way that a dweeb like Yugi could have succeeded where he, Seto Kaiba, had failed countless times. And now that the true King of Games was gone, it would be the perfect opportunity to reclaim his title as the world's greatest dualist.

Or at least it would have been, had Kaiba not been the president of the world's largest gaming company. KaibaCorp had done nothing but grow over the past two years; there were two more KaibaLand theme parks under construction already, and there was rarely a day that Kaiba didn't spend at his desk, working.

And that was exactly what he was doing when his brother interrupted him with news of the Millennium Items.

Mokuba saw even less of Seto than he had two years ago; as the president's younger brother, Mokuba himself was involved in a lot of the company's functions, particularly those that involved the KaibaLand theme parks, and the brothers' spare time rarely coincided. However, unlike Seto, Mokuba had enough time to look into worldly matters.

Mokuba entered Seto's office holding a copy of the previous day's paper. It was already opened to page twelve, but before he had a chance to hold it up, Seto had already addressed him.

"This had better be important, Mokuba."

Mokuba held up the article and pointed at the picture of the Millennium Items. "A team of archaeologists dug up this," he said, dropping the paper on Seto's desk. "It's the Millennium Items – the ones that Yugi and his friends used to send the Pharaoh into the spirit world."

Seto barely even spared the article a glance. "Why don't you spare me the chit-chat and tell me what you thought was important enough to interrupt me with?"

Mokuba looked crestfallen. "But, Seto, this could be important! We saw what those items could-"

"Mokuba," Kaiba said, resuming his typing and looking at his computer screen, "even if I believed that stuff about magical Egyptian artefacts – which I don't – it holds no bearing on my life, or on yours. I have a company to run, so I will forget about what you just told me, and unless you've suddenly decided to become an archaeologist, I suggest you do the same."

Mokuba was furious with his brother for being so narrow minded, but he didn't question him. Wordlessly, he gathered up the newspaper and left the office.

Kaiba watched him go, and then returned to his work.

* * *

Seated in the corner of a prison cell, was a man.

At first glance, he was indistinguishable from the other prisoners; he wore the same uniform, did the same work every day, and hung his head low whenever someone passed.

But to those unlucky enough to see him raise his head, it was a memory they were unlikely to forget.

It wasn't that his face was anything unusual, at least for a prisoner. His hair was long, dark and unkempt and his skin was laced with scars. It was his eyes, which burned with a cold fire that was alien amongst the sea of hopeless expressions on the faces of all the other prisoners in this prison, which were the cause of such shock.

His time was coming soon; he had a plan, and this time it would work. He was sure of it. This time tomorrow, he would be free.

* * *

Yugi hadn't gone back to bed until past midnight, and hadn't managed to fall asleep until at least half past one. Despite this, he was already awake again by six.

He didn't really know why. Ishizu had told him that there was nothing that he could do to help her, and as much as he hated to admit it, she was right. Even if he were in Egypt, there would be nothing for him to do.

He wondered if he should call his friends. It was unlikely that they had heard about the Millennium Items yet, since he knew that the first thing they would do once that happened would be call him, as Bakura had done.

Yugi decided against it; as much as he missed their company, he didn't want them to worry about this as much as he was. Besides, they were likely to find out soon enough anyway.

He decided that his best course of action now was to wait. He would call Ishizu again in the afternoon and ask how the saga had progressed. Until then, he would carry on as normal.

* * *

The prisoner was also waiting; waiting for his plan to unfold. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. Any minute now...

The sound of the crash rocked through the prison and the land around it for a hundred feet in every direction. The other prisoners ran about their cells in panic, the sound having shocked them to their very cores, but the one prisoner remained unfazed, waiting patiently as the mayhem unfolded around him.

The prison guards all ran towards the source of the sound. The prisoner opened one eye to watch them go.

"Fools," he muttered, closing his eye again. This was going to be easier than he had thought.

The balaclava-clad people who suddenly ran through the prison were armed to the teeth at the belts, but what they held in their hands were not weapons, but every prisoner's dream; lock picks, welding torches, even mild explosives...everything that was needed to get into – or out of – a locked prison cell. And it was on their arrival that the prisoner finally moved.

He was on his feet in an instant, and he ran to the door of his cell, letting out a shrill whistle as he did so. The strangers exchanged glances upon seeing him, and within a minute, his cell was opened and he was stepping out. With an air of eerie calm despite the mayhem of the other prisoners cries all around, he started to walk down the row of cells in the direction that the armed strangers had come.

"Sir," one of them said. The man looked back over his shoulder expectantly. "What of the others?" he continued, gesturing at the other prisoners.

"Oh – leave them here. Isn't it obvious? I can't stand the sight of them."

This simple message was conveyed to the rested of the strangers, and before long all of them were following the strange man out of the prison, leaving the other prisoners in their cells.

By the time the prison guards realised that the explosion they had heard had been a mere decoy, the man and his followers were gone.

Seated in the helicopter, the man watched the prison disappear from sight. He gave a satisfied smile. "That was far simpler than I had expected."

"Sir, where do you wish to go now?"

He looked in the direction of the man who had spoken. "Take us to Egypt...yes, I think Egypt would be a very nice place to go."


	3. A Theft and a Plan

Hey folks! This is IncurablyAwesome here.

Thanks again for reading this far - it means a lot to me. Please review *insert irresistable puppy dog eyes*

I'm aware of the fact that I said previously that I only planned to update once a week, and I may still have to do that, but at the moment, I'm able to update the next chapter, so here it is! I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

Anyways, thanks again!

~IA

* * *

Yugi's gaze was fixed on the television screen, a cold feeling of dread creeping up his spine. His worst fears had been realised.

"_A break-in in the Cairo Museum last night resulted in the seven Ancient Egyptian artefacts that were discovered just a week ago being stolen from their place in the museum. Security in the museum was very strict, however this morning, at six a.m., the security guards of the museum were all found unconscious at their posts, having been knocked out. They have now regained consciousness and all have said that they have no recollection of what happened, beyond that they were all knocked out from behind. The museum's alarm system did not detect the intruder, leading experts to believe that it had been compromised prior to the break in. As well as this, a member of the Egyptian Historical Society, Miss Ishizu Ishtar, was found severely injured and unconscious inside the museum, just in front of the place where the artefacts were being kept. She was taken to the hospital in a coma. Her condition has been described as stable but serious. It is hoped that once she has regained consciousness, she will be able to explain in more detail the events of last night. Further investigation into the matter is being conducted. And now for the sport report..." _

Yugi sat back on the couch staring into space. The Millennium Items had been stolen, Ishizu was in hospital, and there were no leads on where the thief had gone.

This was very, very bad.

Yugi made for the door to his bedroom. He already knew what he was going to do.

He started opening draws, flinging clothing into a pile on the floor. He would need enough for at least a few weeks...

"What are you doing, Yugi?"

Yugi didn't stop. "I'm going to Egypt, Grandpa. I have to find the person who stole the Millennium Items."

Yugi's Grandpa sighed. "I had a feeling you were going to say that."

Yugi hesitated in his packing, and looked at him. "I have to. Whoever stole the items, whether he knew about their power or not, has control of a disaster waiting to happen. If we just ignore that..." He shook his head and, without waiting for Grandpa's response, continued packing. After a moment, his Grandpa left him alone.

Yugi picked up the gold box that had held the Millennium Puzzle. How was he supposed to find the Millennium items on his own? He had always been there to help the Pharaoh when he had still been around, but now, Yugi had to do this by himself. He sighed, placing the box back on its shelf.

Yugi knew that his friends would want to help him if they knew that he was planning to try and find the items, but...Yugi remembered the news report; the thief had severely injured Ishizu and stolen the Millennium Items, and then left, completely undetected. No, this was something that he had to do, but there was no way that his friends were getting involved with someone like that on his account.

Yugi wondered what Bakura was going to do. As far as Yugi knew, he was the only one of his friends who knew about the rediscovery of the Millennium Items. He was also the only one of his friends who had a background closely linked with one of the items. He was probably just as worried as Yugi was about the outcome of the Millennium items being stolen.

But that didn't change anything for Yugi. He wouldn't put any of his friends in danger, and the only way to make sure that he didn't was to not tell them that he was planning to find the person who stole the Millennium Items.

He seated himself in front of his computer and started researching flights to Egypt. He would leave as soon as possible...

* * *

On the other side of town, Bakura had just turned off the T.V. after watching the very same report as Yugi.

He had been watching the news headlines like a hawk for a week now, ever since he had first learned of the rediscovery of the Millennium items. And there hadn't been much on the subject – until now.

This was very, very bad.

He remembered very well what it had been like, owning the Millennium Ring. It had terrified him, and at the same time he would have protected it with his life. While it was in his possession, he had only been in control when the other Bakura had let him; everything he had done had always been part of the spirit of the Ring's plan, whether Bakura wanted to help him or not. It was the other Bakura who had impacted more on Ryou Bakura's memory, but the power of the Ring itself had been incredible on its own.

Bakura himself had only used the Ring's power once; to transfer his soul into the Change of Heart card and save Yugi and his friends; every other time that the Ring had been used, it had been the other Bakura; but that one time had been enough to make him realise the full extent of the power of the Millennium Ring.

And now, the Ring's power – the power to transfer souls – was at the fingertips of...someone. It was the fact that he didn't know who it was, that scared him. He would have felt safe, knowing that the Ring was in the hands of someone who wouldn't abuse its power.

Bakura had a feeling that he knew what Yugi would be doing right about now. After seeing the report, the first thing he would do would be to go to Egypt to find the person responsible for the theft. _Only I'll be going with him._

Bakura grabbed his phone and dialled the number. Yugi's grandpa picked up.

"Hello, Mr Moto," Bakura said, polite but slightly impatient. "Is Yugi there? This is Bakura."

There was a minute or two of muffled noises, followed by Yugi's voice. "Bakura?"

"Yes."

"I guess you just watched the report." Yugi's voice sounded strained, like he was very worried and didn't want to show it.

"You're going to Egypt, aren't you?" Bakura asked after a moment's hesitation.

Yugi didn't answer at first. Finally, he said, "I have to."

"So do I. I'm coming with you."

"No you're not, Bakura. This is for me to do."

Bakura remained unfazed. "You weren't the only one who had a Millennium Item. I have as much right to go as you do."

"Bakura, this isn't Duellist Kingdom, where everything was determined by the results of a card game. This is someone who successfully robbed a heavily guarded museum and hospitalised Ishizu Ishtar in the process. And to top it off, he has all seven Millennium Items. It's dangerous, and I'm not going to let anyone get hurt while helping me."

"Well, let's just say that I'm going because I want to catch this thief as much as you do," Bakura said. "And besides; I shared the mind of a thief for years. I know how they think. Face it, Yugi. I'm going whether you want me to or not, so you may as well let me help you."

There was silence on the other end of the line for at least a minute. "Thank you, Bakura."

* * *

The soonest Yugi was able to book a flight to Egypt was in another week.

He almost considered calling Kaiba and promising him a rematch in exchange for a trip to Egypt in his Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet, but he decided against it; if Kaiba had wanted a rematch with Yugi, he surely would have demanded one by now.

Yugi had no idea what to do; the theif could do anything in a week, and there was nothing that Yugi could do while in Domino city.

Sighing, he fell back onto his bed. He would have another look at some other airlines, or maybe call a travel agent. He had been hoping to leave by tomorrow. There had to be something, somewhere...

* * *

The man's henchmen knew little of their master's plan, only that it involved the seven items that he had stolen from the Cairo museum. Since they had returned to their hideout after obtaining the items, he had done nothing but sit alone with one of them, fumbling with it but getting nowhere. He was clearly frustrated with whatever it was, but none of them ever dared to venture close enough to see it.

Finally, four hours after he had first sat down with the item, he got to his feet gruffly and addressed his henchmen. "Alright. I know what we have to do. We're going to Japan, and I want to be there in less than twelve hours. Snap to it!" he added harshly, when they hesitated for a moment. They immediately scattered, each of them preparing for their immediate departure.

The man smiled to himself as he went to replace the Millennium Items in their bag. "A minor setback, but not an unwelcome one," he mused. "This could prove beneficial to my plan."


	4. A Saddened Reunion

Yugi still hadn't solved the problem of how he and Bakura were going to get to Egypt, but there wasn't much that he could do about it. He settled with the flight next week, and booked the tickets before they too sold out. Heaving a frustrated sigh, he grabbed his bag and headed downstairs. "I'm going out for a bit, Grandpa," he said as he left through the front door of the Game shop.

Out on the street, he made sure to steer clear of any groups of kids who would surely swamp him with autograph demands on sight. He gave another sigh and tilted his head back, looking at the sky. It felt so empty now that Atem was gone. Even after two years, it still felt as though part of him had left with his friend.

"Hey, isn't that Yugi? It is! Hey, Yuug!"

Yugi heard the voice from somewhere behind him, and pretended not to hear, hoping that he could escape before the fans caught him. Then something about the voice twigged in his memory, and he whipped around just in time to be grabbed in a giant bear hug.

"Joey! Tristan!" Yugi exclaimed, delighted. "What are you two doing here?"

After they released him from their strangling hug, Joey and Tristan both started incessantly talking over each other. Yugi laughed awkwardly and waited for one of them to get an audible word out. Eventually, Joey did.

"We haven't seen you in months!"

Yugi found himself looking at his feet. They didn't know the least of it. At least, it didn't seem that way...surely, if they had heard about the Millennium Items, they would have contacted him by now. It had been more that a week. "I've been so busy," he mumbled.

"We all have, man," Tristan admitted, "especially now that school's over, with jobs and stuff."

"But who cares!" Joey butted in. "We're all here now – are you doing something? We were just heading down to the arcade – you should come, Yuug."

Yugi hesitated. He hadn't really been doing anything before he had run into them, and he longed to be able to just hang out with his friends again, but...he remembered his vow not to get his friends involved in the disappearance of the Millennium Items. It was bad enough that he couldn't convince Bakura to stay behind. He didn't want Joey and Tristan coming along too, and if they tried to get him to come to something next week, they'd want to know why he couldn't come. And he couldn't exactly tell them that he was going to Egypt with Bakura...

Yugi pushed it aside. With any luck, it wouldn't come to telling them that, and he _did _want to spend time with his friends again. "Sure – let's go!"

As the three of them made there way towards the arcade, Yugi was bombarded with a tide of questions, both of them struggling to be heard. He found himself nodding and answering with a smile, but inside he was racked with guilt. Even though he hadn't spoken to them in months, he felt horrible knowing that he was keeping secrets from them, especially as secret as important as his. He sighed internally, knowing that it couldn't be helped.

After arriving at the arcade, the three of them set to trying out all of the games available, with Yugi proving victorious in absolutely everything – there was a reason he was the King of Games. This made him remember the old times even more, except that Téa wasn't with them.

"Have either of you spoken to Téa lately?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Téa's still in America," Joey said. "She'll be finished in her dance course in another couple of years."

Yugi nodded sadly. "I'm happy for her, but it really is a shame that she doesn't live here anymore."

As Joey and Tristan nodded their agreement, they made their way over to the vending machines, and then sat down at a table. Yugi sipped his cola absentmindedly, his thoughts elsewhere. It was such a shame that this reunion had to be sullied by the prospect of his upcoming trip.

"Yugi? Yuug?" Joey was asking. "Hey, are you in there?"

Yugi snapped back to the present. "Hmm? Sorry, what?"

"We were just saying how we should meet up and do this again some time," Tristan said.

"Oh..." Yugi suddenly found the lid of his cola bottle incredibly interesting. "Yeah, definitely." _Here it comes...the part where I have to lie to my best friends._

Joey and Tristan exchanged glances, and Yugi felt their gazes burning into him. "Is...something the matter, Yugi?" Tristan asked.

Yugi made sure to look them in the eyes and laugh innocently when he replied. "Nope! It's just that I'm going to be out of town for a while. I'm leaving next week, and I don't know when I'll be getting back, so we'd have to do something before then."

They seemed to accept this as truthful enough. "Where are you going?" Joey asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, er, just to visit some family members."

They looked disappointed. "That's a shame," Tristan said. "But it shouldn't be too long, right? I mean your Grandpa'll probably want you back soon to help with the shop."

"Yeah, he will," Yugi said, his mind drifting again for a second. "Anyway, who's up for another round of games again before closing time?" he asked, hoping the change of topic wasn't too obvious.

Both Tristan and Joey groaned in unison. "What's the point? You'll thrash us both anyway," Joey said, but getting to his feet none the less.

* * *

Yugi waved his friends goodbye with the same innocent smile he always wore, but as soon as he was out of earshot, Joey turned to Tristan. "I wonder what that was about."

"I know, man," Tristan agreed. "He was totally out of it the whole time he was with us."

"And the visiting family thing...I mean, it's not like his Grandpa's the only family Yugi has, but you don't usually visit family members indefinitely."

"You don't think he made it up to avoid us, do you?" Tristan asked.

Joey shook his head. "Yugi wouldn't do that. There must be something bothering him."

They stared after him, puzzling over his strange behaviour. "How are we supposed to help him out if he won't tell us what the problem is?" Tristan wondered.

Joey frowned thoughtfully. "He's probably just uncomfortable because we haven't spoken in so long. I guess we'll have to wait and see. He said that he wasn't leaving for another week. We'll have to call him tomorrow. Hopefully we'll be able to worm something out of him by next week. Anyway, I'm going home; I'm starving and I spent all my money at the arcade. See you tomorrow, Tristan."

* * *

Yugi made his way home slowly. He was suddenly terrified of the upcoming trip. As guilty as he felt in admitting it, he was glad that at least one friend would be with him for this adventure; the prospect of going alone daunted him.

"Aren't you Yugi Moto?" Yugi heard a voice say, and within five seconds, a bunch of kids had surrounded him. He groaned internally. This was just what he needed. "Yeah, hi, everyone," he said cheerfully, cursing himself for being so visible in a crowd. After all, it wasn't as if his hair made him inconspicuous.

"I'm gonna be just like you when I grow up," one of the kids said. "Can I have your autograph?" asked another. Yugi's hand set to work at signing all of the paper, hats, DuelDisks and everything else that they put in front of him.

Suddenly, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders...literally. He turned, just in time to see one of the kids make off with his back pack. "Hey!" he exclaimed, pushing through the crowd and chasing after the boy.

He had obviously planned his theft and knew where he was going as he ran purposefully towards the other side of town. Yugi's lungs started burning. However, the boy appeared to be tiring too; his sprint had fallen to a mere fast jog, with occasional moments where he would drop to a walk, if only for a few seconds. At one point, he looked over his shoulder and, seeing that Yugi was still following, kept going.

_If only Tristan and Joey were still with me_, he thought. _They'd have caught this kid by now. _

The boy turned another corner, and Yugi upped his pace a little. "Hey...stop!" he gasped as he followed the boy around the corner.

And remarkably, he did.

They both stood, panting. The boy had led him to an alleyway on the quieter side of town. There was a soft thud as Yugi's bag fell from the boy's hand and hit the ground.

"Why did you..." Yugi began, only to trail off as he realised with a jolt what had happened.

The boy had been leading him into a trap.

The boy started backing away, then turned and ran again, pushing past Yugi in his haste to leave, but this time Yugi didn't follow him. He was too preoccupied by the figures that had appeared from somewhere further down the alleyway. He only hesitated for a second, but by the time he had turned to run, they had already cut him off from his only escape route. Yugi gulped, taking a step back, only to bump into one of the people behind him. He couldn't see their faces – all of them wore balaclavas. Yugi braced himself for whatever it was they had in store for him.

"Yugi Moto, yes?" One of them stepped forward. Yugi stared at him, not daring to say a word. "We'd like for you to come with us," he said. "And I think-" He drew from within his enormous jacket a small but deadly looking pistol, and pointed it straight at Yugi's head. "-that you'll find it in your best interests to co-operate."

* * *

PLEASE REVIEW :D


	5. Kidnapped

Hello again, everyone!

As usual, thanks for reading, please review, etc.

I recall saying in a previous chapter that I was going to be updating only once a week, but at the moment it looks as though I'll be able to update every couple of days, so just consider the 'once a week' thing as the maximum amount of time between updates.

Anyways, I'll get onto the chapter now :D

~IA

* * *

Yugi had never wished for the Pharaoh more in his life than he did when the men covered his eyes and bound his hands. Whatever they wanted, it was going to be bad...and something that Yugi wouldn't want to help them with. That much was certain.

Unfortunately not much else was. He hadn't seen any of their faces, and they all wore identical black clothing. None of them had even said anything, except for the one that addressed him.

He could hear them moving around, and he jumped when he felt a hand on his back. "Move," said a voice, and Yugi found himself being guided forward. He knew that the only way they could have gone was out of the alley, but since he didn't know this part of town, it became increasingly difficult to keep a picture of his surrounding in his head.

Yugi's panic started rising, and his lack of sight did little to remedy his fears.

_Calm down_, Yugi told himself. _What would Atem do?_

The answer was so clear to him that he could have sworn that the Pharaoh was still with him. _It's obvious that I can't get out by fighting or escaping, especially blindfolded. All I can do now is try to figure out what they want._

His mind was working fast. _If they wanted to hurt me, they'd have done it in the alley. That means they need me for something. Now, they could kidnap a lot of people for a lot of different reasons, but they kidnapped me. And since I'm the King of Games, it must be some kind of game. _

Yugi wondered if it was some game prodigy who wanted to challenge him. But that didn't explain why they needed to kidnap him...unless whoever it was wanted their match to be private, in which case it had to be someone important, whose reputation would be shot if he lost.

Yugi's first suspect was obviously Kaiba, but it didn't seem right; Kaiba wanted to win Yugi's title, and if they duelled in private, Kaiba wouldn't be able to claim that title in the public eye, even if he won. And at any rate, Kaiba had never been bothered by risking his reputation in a duel with Yugi before.

No, this wasn't Kaiba. This was someone else...

"Get in the car," barked Yugi's guide, and Yugi felt his body being pushed into a vehicle. Someone strapped him in, and Yugi heard the sounds of two people getting into the car on either side of him. So he was in the back seat, in the middle.

They would need to have several vehicles to transport all of the people he had seen before being blindfolded. He hoped that someone would notice Yugi in the one of the cars, blindfolded, but he didn't even bother pursuing that hope; his captors probably had tinted windows, and even if someone did see him, their mind wouldn't even register it.

Yugi was on his own, and completely at their mercy. And yet, as he felt the car start to move away from wherever it had been parked, he realised that he didn't feel any fear. He, who had had his soul fed to a giant beast, helped save the world four times, and confronted the creator of the Shadow Realm. It was safe to say that Yugi Moto couldn't bring himself to be afraid of a few men with guns whose mission appeared to be 'bring him to their master'.

There was silence in the car for several minutes, before Yugi finally decided to speak up. "Where are you taking me?"

No response. Yugi didn't bother trying again; they weren't going to talk to him.

Yugi's grandpa would be expecting him home soon; when Yugi didn't return, Grandpa would likely make calls to all of Yugi's friends. Assuming he was able to get a hold of Tristan or Joey, he would find out what Yugi had been doing all day...

Yugi knew that his Grandpa would almost definitely suspect that Yugi's sudden disappearance had something to do with the Millennium items, and let something slip about Yugi and Bakura going to Egypt, which meant that before long, Tristan and Joey would know about Yugi's secret. Then they would call Bakura, and he wouldn't know anything. It was likely that everyone would think that Yugi had taken off to Egypt early in order to get rid of Bakura.

Yugi couldn't believe he was worrying about that now; he had more pressing matters at hand. When all of this was over, he would go home, explain what had happened, and go to Egypt as planned. These strangers weren't going to stop him.

The hours seemed to meld into each other, and Yugi soon lost track of time, but it must have been at least two hours before the car finally stopped.

Yugi felt a rough hand on his arm pull him from the vehicle, and he was led away again. The surface below his feet felt like concrete, but he only felt it for a moment before his guide stopped him. Yugi heard a door open, and he was pushed inside.

And then, he felt a feeling of immense relief as someone untied his hands, coupled with a feeling of dread as to what was to come.

"You can take off the blindfold," said the voice of his guide, followed by the door closing. Yugi heard a key turn.

Yugi smiled internally. Now that the waiting was over, he would soon find out whatever these people wanted of him. Without hesitating, he reached up and pulled off his blindfold.


	6. Slater

And so it's time for another chapter!

Sorry that the last one didn't have much happen – hopefully this will make up for that :D

It looks like we're finally going to put a name to the face of my villain – I hope he isn't too cliché. I wasn't trying to, but I'm worried that that was how it turned out. At any rate – who doesn't love an over the top cliché villain? Actually, don't answer that. What I'm saying is; tell me what you think of him :D

I'm trying to stick to the plot line of _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ as much as possible, but if a few things don't match up, I'm sorry D: If you let me know, I may be able to iron them out, but there are probably going to be some things change for the sake of a good story – anyway, I'll try and stop that from happening, but if I don't pick up on it, please tell me!

I'm also trying to keep the characters as 'in character' as possible, but again, they may be a little out of character. If you think so, again, please tell me in your reviews!

~IA

* * *

Ryou Bakura had already finished packing for Egypt. Yugi had called him that morning, telling him the time of their flight. A whole week of waiting wasn't an appealing prospect, but at least it would give him time to prepare for anything else that he would need.

The phone rang when it was almost six, and he answered it, wondering if it was Yugi, having found another flight. "Hello?"

"Is that you, Bakura?"

_Well, that's definitely not Yugi_, Bakura decided. "Yes, who's this?"

There was a frustrated sigh on the other end of the line. "This is Yugi's grandpa. I don't suppose you've seen Yugi at all today?"

Bakura froze. "No, why?"

"He went out this morning, and I haven't heard form him since. I was starting to wonder if he had left early without telling me, but if you're still here, he couldn't have."

_Unless he left without telling me either!_ Bakura thought, feeling hurt. _But...no. Yugi wouldn't do that, surely. _Bakura knew that he would, though. Yugi hadn't wanted to put anyone else in danger, and he was exactly the sort of person who would go out of his way to make sure he didn't. "Is his bag still in his room?" Bakura asked, not really expecting it to be.

"He hadn't even finished packing yet. I already checked."

Another thought occurred to Bakura. "What about his passport? He can't possibly be planning to leave the country without it."

Silence.

"I hadn't thought of that," Solomon said. "I'll go and check if it's in his room."

Bakura sat down and waited with the phone pressed to his ear apprehensively. He heard Solomon put the phone down, and then there was nothing.

The minutes stretched on, until finally, Bakura heard Solomon's voice again. "I have it in my hand."

_Then he must still be in Japan._ Bakura heaved a sigh of relief, only to be replaced by worry. If Yugi hadn't gone to Egypt, where had he gone?

* * *

The room in which Yugi was standing was relatively small. There were no windows, and the only door was the one from which he had come.

And it was also nearly completely empty. At its centre was a simple wooden desk and chair, and since there was nothing else in the room, it was to this that Yugi walked. The only things on the desk were a small laptop computer, and a drawstring bag.

Yugi looked around, wondering what he was supposed to do now. He sat down and flipped up the computer screen. The computer didn't have any programs on it at all, even those as simple as Word. Maybe he should-

"Hello, Yugi Moto. It really is an honour."

Yugi jumped, startled. The voice had come from the computer. The screen was simply blank, but the voice came through its speakers loud and clear. Yugi stared at it, wondering if whoever it was could see him.

"You may call me Slater. That will do for now, not that it matters. I have a small request of you, Yugi; one that I'm sure is right up your alley." The computer laughed. "Kindly open the bag in front of you and tell me if you recognise its contents. Don't worry; it's perfectly safe."

Yugi didn't trust this 'Slater'. "Why should I trust you?"

Slater's voice sighed. "You shouldn't. It doesn't change anything. Open the bag and tell me what's inside."

Yugi's gaze drifted to the bag. "No, I don't think I will. I'll be leaving now." He jumped out of the chair and ran to the door. It was locked. He groaned internally; he hadn't really expected it to be open, since he had heard his captors lock it, but it made him even more frustrated now that it was official.

"Yugi, Yugi, Yugi." Slater chuckled. "You're such a brave boy. I bet you weren't always that brave, though, were you, Yugi?"

Yugi stiffened. His hand, which was still on the door handle, tightened until his knuckles started turning white. No, he hadn't been brave. Not until he had met Atem. Was Slater trying to hint at...?

There was another chuckle. "Go on, Yugi. Open the bag."

And Yugi did. He approached the desk, and in one swift, fluid motion, he had opened the bag and turned it upside down, spilling its contents over the desk.

A cascade of gold met his eyes. It took him several seconds to really comprehend what he was seeing...something that he had last seen embedded in a stone in a collapsing cave.

It was the Millennium Puzzle, in its incomplete form.

In that second, Yugi understood everything. Slater had stolen the items, including the Puzzle. But incomplete, it was of no use to him, and he hadn't been able to solve it.

Yugi suddenly cursed himself for always wearing it in plain sight; all the times when he had been on T.V., broadcast to gamers worldwide, the Millennium Puzzle had been around his neck, completed. Slater must have recognised the Puzzle in the picture in the newspaper as being the same as the one Yugi had been wearing all that time, and known that Yugi would be able to solve it. And so he had sought Yugi out...

All of this took less than a second to realise. Yugi stared at his Puzzle, gaping. "I don't understand," he finally said. "The Millennium Puzzle was completed when it was stolen. Why did you disassemble it?" Yugi didn't know what else to say.

Slater laughed dryly. "I'm afraid my plan for obtaining these items didn't quite go as planned. You see, I had to break out of prison in order to get them. This caused a bit of a stir."

Yugi was silent, waiting for Slater to continue his story.

"Believe it or not, this is not my first attempt at taking control of the Millennium items, Yugi," Slater went on. "Many years ago, I heard of the seven items while on a trip to Egypt. I also heard that two of them were in the possession of an ancient family of tomb keepers, awaiting the return of an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh. But I wasn't interested in their stories; I was only interested in the items, and the power they held.

"I found their tomb. I found their items; the Rod and the Necklace. But," the computer sighed, "I was not destined to have the items yet. A little girl – the tomb keeper's daughter – saw me trying to steal them, and alerted her father."

"Ishizu..." Yugi realised.

"The tomb keeper was able to stop me from obtaining the two items that he had, and I was sent away with nothing for my efforts." There was a laugh. "The fool should have killed me when he had the chance, but he was convinced that I had learned my lesson, and wouldn't make a move on the items again. His daughter wasn't so certain.

"Young Miss Ishtar kept tabs on me for her whole life; anything I did, she was the first to know about it. After I landed in prison, she thought that her troubles would be over." He sniggered. "She was wrong. But of course, she didn't let her guard down; she heard about my escape from prison, and when my men and I arrived at the Cairo Museum, she was there, waiting for me."

Everything had pieced itself together in Yugi's mind. He already knew what was coming.

"Of course, what could one unarmed woman do against me and twenty armed men? She was no threat to me, and we both knew it. As her last act of bravado, she was able to get a hold of the Millennium Puzzle long enough to smash it."

"And then you sent her to hospital in a coma," Yugi spat.

"She was lucky that I saw no need to kill her. Now, the Millennium Puzzle is beyond human knowledge; it cannot be solved, or so I was led to believe, until I remembered a _very_ similar artefact to the Puzzle hanging around the neck of the world's rising game champion who I had seen on the television several years ago. Since I had never seen the Puzzle before at the time, I failed to make the connection. But now I see the truth; you were able to solve the Puzzle, Yugi Moto. And then you left it with the rest of the items in that cave, thinking that it would stop the Items from ever falling into the wrong hands." He laughed. "You were wrong."

Yugi remained silent; Slater wasn't done yet.

"And now, I have all of the items – except the Puzzle, which is useless as it is. So let me make you a deal, Yugi Moto. You will solve the Millennium Puzzle, and in return, I will not harm you...or your friends."

Yugi stared at the Puzzle pieces, then at the computer. "I won't help you! Ishizu nearly died preventing you from getting your hands on this."

"Ah, but you see, Yugi, I think you will help me. You've clearly forgotten that I have six Millennium Items at my disposal. I can see into your mind; I know everything about you! And I know that with your friends' _lives_ on the line, you will cooperate."

"You wouldn't...!"

"Of course I would; I can't use the Millennium Rod to simply take control of your mind and force you to solve the Puzzle; you are the only one who can solve it, and if I were controlling your mind, I would be unable to. Instead, I've decided to use...other methods. Now go ahead and solve your precious Puzzle, Yugi. And don't try to stall for time, or I shall be cross."

The screen of the computer didn't change, but Yugi got the feeling of having been hung up on. He still believed that he was being watched, so, after a moment, he sat down and started fumbling with the Puzzle pieces...stalling for time.

* * *

Slater sat back smugly while keeping his eyes fixed on the view screen. The hidden camera showed that Yugi was fiddling with the Puzzle pieces, but he hadn't started to solve it. Slater didn't need to read his mind to know that Yugi had no intention of solving it...yet. He was calling Slater's bluff.

But he didn't need to solve it. Slater had the Millennium Eye, and that was all he needed.

As facts would have it, Slater was seated in the very next room to Yugi; the fact that there was no door between the two rooms seemed to have convinced him that the room he was in was the only one in the building. It gave Slater a perfect place to sit undetected and probe the mind of the King of Games.

Slater looked down at the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle on his table. Yugi hadn't figured out yet that the Puzzle he was solving was nothing more than a to-scale replica of the Puzzle. Now, Yugi wouldn't need to put the pieces together; he simply had to _think_ of which piece went where, and Slater could read his mind and place the pieces together himself. There was no way he would have risked letting the real Puzzle out of his sight.

Yugi's mind was awash with 'what do I do now' thoughts; he was wishing that his friend, the Pharaoh was there, and that there was someone who knew where he was who could help him. But, of course, there weren't; his situation was looking dismal, and Slater saw no reason to disagree with him.

His minthoughts wouldn't be able to stay focused on his situation forever; sooner or later, they would wander in the direction of the Puzzle, and he would start to put the pieces together – in his head – and Slater would be able to put the pieces together on his table.

He smiled to himself. Three years in prison was very little by the standards of some inmates, but it had been enough to fill SLater with hatred. Once he had all seven Millennium Items, he would be free; free to do whatever he pleased, and nobody would be able to stop him.

* * *

Yugi had been fiddling with the Puzzle for nearly half an hour, aimlessly rubbing the pieces together to look like he was having trouble.

He was starting to get uncomfortable with Slater's prolonged silence. He must have figured out by now that Yugi wasn't trying to solve the Puzzle, especially if he was able to read Yugi's mind.

Yugi tried to be reasonable; if Slater had the power of all seven Millennium Items, there was almost nothing that he would be unable to do. But if Yugi refused to solve the Puzzle...he would be putting his friends in danger either way.

"Oh, Yugi?" Slater's voice came through the computer, making Yugi jump.

There was an amused chuckle. "I see you're still trying to figure out how to save your friends without giving me your Puzzle. I'd just like to remind you that you can't, so you may as well get it over with."

"No!" Yugi said. "I'm not going to help you. Not after Ishizu's sacrifice, not ever!"

"I see. Then the only way to make you cooperate is to give you something that you want...a fighting chance."

A sudden chill fell over the room, and Yugi looked around, wondering what had changed. Everything looked the same, except more...evil.

"I'm going to up the stakes now, Yugi, for you have made me angry, which I do not like. How about we say that we turn this little meeting into a game? Surely you like games."

Yugi was frowning, wondering what Slater meant. Something told him he didn't want to know...

"How about we say that in this little game, at the conclusion of each round, the winner of that round gets to keep whichever Millennium Item was at stake. And the loser..." There was a sadistic laugh. "...get's his immortal soul sent to the Shadow Realm."

Suddenly the chilling feeling in the room made sense, and Yugi felt it run up his spine as he realised what was happening.

Outside, Slater's men stared in awe at the dark shroud of blackness that had surrounded the building. A Shadow Game had begun.

* * *

Another plot point I've been forced to change is the 'end of the Shadow Games'. I'm sorry about that, but Shadow Games played too big a role in this story to leave them out :(

Another thing, just so you can get a picture in your head: Slater is in one room, Yugi in another. The doors are right next to each other, but Yugi didn't see the other one as he was blindfolded when he approached the building. Each room has a desk and chair, the only difference being that there is a hidden camera in Yugi's room. Slater's twenty henchmen are standing outside with their five stolen cars, just chillin' out while Slater attempts to destroy Yugi's soul. What a nice bunch of guys :D

By the way, the reason we haven't learned Slater's first name is because if you did, nobody would take him seriously. I'm actually planning a prequel to this once it's all over, on the history of Slater, but can I have everyone's opinion on whether you want me to do that? It's quite a complex story in my head, and it will tie in with the history of some of the other Yu-Gi-Oh characters.

Anyway, all reviews welcome :D I will update soon

~IA


	7. Round One: The Millennium Puzzle

Looks like chapter seven is up!

Okay, so things have started heating up, and Yugi's about to partake in the first of the Shadow Games in this story.

Once again, thank you for reading, and the next update won't be too long.

~IA

* * *

Slater may have been slightly insane, but he wasn't stupid; he wasn't playing a Shadow Game with the King of Games without precautions. He used the Millennium Rod.

The man he chose to be his pawn for the game had been recruited while Slater had been in prison; he hadn't bothered to learn the man's name. Slater sat him down in the hidden room, in front of the pieces of the real Millennium Puzzle, and then, after casting one last wistful glance at the Puzzle, went outside and then entered Yugi's room. He wordlessly passed Yugi and sat at the desk opposite him.

Slater had left all of the Millennium Items behind, except two; the Rod, which he used to control his mind slave, and the Eye. Those two alone would be enough.

Yugi gasped on seeing his opponent's face for the first time. Slater had removed one of his fierce blue eyes and replaced it with the Millennium Eye, which only served to add to the frightening look of his face. Slater laughed. "Well, Yugi. Aren't you glad to finally meet, face to face? Don't you want to start our little game?"

Slater was holding the Millennium Rod under the table. Little did Yugi know that his true opponent in this Shadow Game was Slater's mind slave, sitting in the next room in front of the Millennium Puzzle.

"Now, Yugi. The rules of this Shadow Game are very simple; the first one of us to solve the Millennium Puzzle gets to keep the Millennium Puzzle. If it is not solved in ten minutes, the one who has the least pieces in place will automatically lose, and I think you already know what happens to the losers in a Shadow Game."

Yugi was staring at him, utterly speechless. Luckily for Slater, Yugi didn't need to speak.

_This just doesn't make sense_, he was thinking_. Slater must know that I'm the only one who can solve the Puzzle, which means that I'm the only one who can win. He wouldn't just give up his soul like that. And besides; there is only one Puzzle, which means that only one of us can actually take part in the game. I don't trust him; there must be a hidden twist to his plan._

"Then you can't possible win," Yugi said suspiciously.

Slater smiled, bowing his head innocently. "Yugi, Yugi, Yugi. Didn't I say that there would be several rounds of this game? If you were to lose, I would have no opponent and our game would be cut short. Why would I want that to happen when we've just gotten started? Go ahead and finish the Puzzle; it's yours. That is to say, of course, yours until I win it back later on."

He knew that even if Yugi had completely assembled the Puzzle in front of him before the time limit, there was no way he could win; the rules of the game stated that to win, you had to solve the Millennium Puzzle, and the puzzle in front of Yugi was not _the_ Millennium Puzzle; only a replica.

* * *

Yugi hadn't trusted Slater from the beginning, but he had never had reason to doubt his motives until now. He had said that he simply wanted Yugi to win this round, but that couldn't possibly be all there was to his plan; if this was a Shadow Game, then Slater would lose his soul...

_Perhaps figuring out what he's doing is part of the game, _he thought. _Maybe losing is part of his plan, and he's found a way of escaping the Shadow Realm. Or maybe he _wants _to go to the Shadow Realm. But why...?_ Yugi didn't know what to think. If he won, he was helping Slater with...something. But if he lost, then Yugi would lose his soul. _But Slater wouldn't have the Millennium Puzzle. That has to count for something._

Yugi could see Slater growing uneasy with Yugi's train of thought. Yugi knew that his mind was being read by the Millennium Eye, but so far, he hadn't thought anything that Slater himself couldn't have figured out by using deduction...had he?

Yugi's gaze shifted to the Puzzle. Even now, it was more than simply a Millennium Item; it was his treasure, and he absolutely _couldn't_ give its power to someone like Slater.

Yugi found himself remembering all the hours he had spent as a small boy, sitting alone with the Puzzle, trying to solve its mystery. And then, one day, it had just been ridiculously easy.

He had solved the Puzzle twice; the first time, and when Bandit Keith had smashed it before Battle City. He was certain that he could have done it again...if he wanted to.

He remembered where each piece went; both times he had solved it, he had started from the apex of the pyramid and built around it until all the edges, the base, and then sides had been in place, finishing with the piece on the front that depicted the Millennium symbol. The pieces all fitted together in his mind perfectly...

* * *

Slater almost giggled with delight. Yugi was falling right into his trap. He grasped the Millennium Rod tighter. _Come on, little puppet. Solve the Puzzle..._

In the next room, Slater's mind slave took the apex piece and set it aside, and then added the pieces that went below it. They fit in place perfectly_._

Slater tried to find which pieces went next; after all, now that Yugi had started him off, maybe he would be able to solve it on his own, but no matter which piece his mind slave tried to place, nothing seemed to work. Frustrated, he turned his attention back to Yugi; he still needed help.

* * *

Yugi turned his attention back to Slater when he sensed the man's growing excitement.

Yugi knew that Slater was reading his mind, but he didn't see how that could help him. Even if Yugi solved the Puzzle in his head, Slater wouldn't be able to do the Puzzle himself when its pieces were in front of Yugi.

But the way Slater was getting happier with each passing minute was unsettling him. There had to be more to it than this. There _had _to be_._ He just had to figure out what it was.

What if he was bluffing? If Yugi refused to solve the Puzzle, then he would run out of time and the game would be a draw. Then the game would be over, and Slater could simply take back the Puzzle, still unsolved. But that wouldn't help him...

"My, my, Yugi. I had expected you to jump at the opportunity to win back your precious Puzzle," Slater said. "You only have five minutes left. Don't you want to have something to remember your friend Atem by?"

_I don't need the Puzzle to remember him_. Slater's words only made Yugi more determined not to help him. But his words hadn't gone entirely unnoticed; Yugi had five minutes left before he either solved the Puzzle or had his soul sent to the Shadow Realm.

Yugi looked down at the Puzzle again. Each piece was so familiar to him...

* * *

Slater jumped on the next opportunity to read how to solve the Puzzle, and before thirty seconds had passed, the Puzzle in the next room had the edges and base in place.

There was no way Yugi could win now; he wouldn't be able to place a single piece of the Puzzle when it wasn't in his possession, and the game would end with Slater having placed more pieces no matter what happened. But even then, Slater needed Yugi to complete the Puzzle in his head, or the replica on the desk, or Slater wouldn't be able to finish the Puzzle. _That's right, Yugi. Just a bit more... _the mind slave started placing the pieces in the next side of the pyramid.

* * *

With three minutes to go, Yugi was starting to sweat. He had made up his mind not to solve the Puzzle, but the idea of being trapped in the Shadow Realm was unappealing at the best of times, and now, when he didn't know what Slater was trying to do, he didn't even know if it was going to be a worthwhile sacrifice. He knew that Slater could read his mind, but his opponent didn't seem at all troubled by the fact that Yugi wasn't trying to solve the Puzzle. It was as though either way suited him fine...

And at that critical moment, Yugi saw his plan. He knew exactly what he had to do.

* * *

Slater was smiling in a not-so-innocent manner as the countdown hit one minute. "Yugi, all you have to do is place one piece and you'll have placed more than me. You have plenty of time left to win."

Yugi smiled too then. "But I don't plan to win. You see, I've figured out how to win this game..._only I'm not going to_."

Slater stared at him. "What are you-"

"I'll show you."

Slater watched in horror as Yugi did something that was, by all rights, impossible. He held up the near completed Millennium Puzzle and placed it on the desk between them.

Slater stared at it, completely dumbfounded. "How could you have possibly done so much of the puzzle without me knowing about it?"

"Look again, Slater."

And look again he did. It was then that he realised that there were _two _Puzzles on the desk; the pile of pieces that made up the replica, and the half completed _real_ one.

"How...!"

Yugi grinned like a little boy. "You weren't watching my other hand."

And then Yugi did the next impossible thing that day; he held up the Millennium Rod.

Slater couldn't remember when he had let go of the Rod, but the fact remained that it was now in Yugi's hand.

It didn't even occur to Slater to stop Yugi from bashing the real Puzzle against the desk and disassembling it. He just stared, still in shock.

"And that concludes the ten minutes," Yugi announced. "And since neither player has any pieces of the Millennium Puzzle in place, it's a draw."

Slater felt the chill of the darkness lift as the Shadow Game drew to a conclusion, and as neither party had lost, they were both still there.

Slater stared at Yugi, but before he could say a word, Yugi had started to speak.

"You see, Slater, I realised that the key was in the fact that you didn't seem to care whether I solved the Puzzle or not," Yugi explained. "The only way that that wouldn't matter was if it didn't matter to you who won. Therefore, you weren't my real opponent; my real opponent was somewhere nearby, unseen. And of course, the only way for you to play this game while not being my actual opponent was with this." Yugi held up the Millennium Rod.

"I happen to know from experience that the Rod needs to be in the hands of the user in order to grant them mind control. At the same time, it occurred to me that I had only ever seen one of your hands throughout this whole game. It was the age old trick of hiding it under the table. I simply reached out and grabbed it."

"That doesn't explain how you-"

"Then I used the Rod. I have to admit, that part was risky since I had never even tried to use mind control. Thankfully, I didn't need to. I only needed to maintain control of your mind slave, and make you ignore some things, like the absence of the Rod from your hand, the fact that you were cut off from your mind slave, and the fact that he walked into the room, handed me the Millennium Puzzle, and then left again. You probably should have locked the door when you came in."

Slater's eyes jerked up, and saw that the door was wide open. He couldn't believe it – Yugi had been manipulating him, and he hadn't even noticed!

"Then all I had to do was disassemble the Puzzle. I could have put together another piece before the time ran out and won, but unlike you, I would have a problem with sending an innocent man into the Shadow Realm in place of someone else. Your mind slave has been freed, and if I were him, I would be running away right now."

Slater was only in shock for another few seconds, before he burst out laughing. "Really, Yugi. I'm genuinely impressed. They don't call you the King of Games for nothing. But the game is over now; you're just a helpless kid again. You wouldn't even dare to use the Rod now, so I'll be taking it back." He had yanked the Millennium Rod from Yugi's grasp before Yugi could so much as open his mouth.

"Now, Yugi. I think it's safe to say that you earned the Puzzle back, so go on and take it. I'll even let you leave here unchallenged with it." Slater pushed the pieces of the real Millennium Puzzle toward Yugi. He already knew what he would do; he would be true to his word and let Yugi leave with the Puzzle. Then, once he was safely away, Yugi would solve the Puzzle on his own. Then Slater could challenge Yugi to another Shadow Game and win it back.

Yugi didn't have time to answer before Slater was on his feet again. "Okay, men, listen up!" he said into the walkie-talkie that he produced suddenly from one of his jacket's many pockets. "I want all of us cleared out of this place in five minutes – I did say not to get comfortable, so this shouldn't be a problem. Nobody is to challenge our prisoner; he is to go free with his prize. Snap to it!"

He was already making for the door. "Oh, and Yugi? I hear New York is lovely this time of year...you should come and visit me there soon. I'd just love to play another little game with you some time."

And without a further glance at Yugi, he left the room and made for the first of the five cars that he and his men had stolen. "Now come on, men! Put some sweat into it. I want us all at the helicopter in less than an hour. Make that less than half an hour; I'm sick of this place."

* * *

Reviews? O.o *insert irresistable puppy dog eyes*


	8. Searching

Aaaand welcome to chapter eight ;D

I'm sorry if nothing too exciting happens in this chapter, but it does have some key events and hopefully won't be too boring.

Once again, thanks for reading this far – all reviews are very much appreciated :D

So, I'll begin the chapter~!

~IA

* * *

"So you're saying that the men told you to steal Yugi's bag and then lead him to them?" Bakura asked. "And then you did."

The boy scuffed his feet. "I didn't want to. They scared me! They were wearing these black things on their faces and they had lots of guns, so I did. I led Yugi to them and then ran away before anything else happened. I knew who Yugi was, so I went to his Game Shop and told the old man there..."

_Then I arrived at the shop a minute later,_ Bakura thought. _And I asked him to explain it again to me. _

They were now sitting outside the shop on a bench just down the road. Bakura had hoped that without Yugi's grandpa hanging around, the boy would be more comfortable. He appeared in a better state now than what Bakura had seen him in when he was talking to Solomon, but he was still on the verge of crying.

"Don't worry," Bakura assured him. "It's fine. Can you show me where it was that you led Yugi?"

The boy looked up, horrified. "I'm not going back there, ever!"

"Okay, you don't have to. Can you tell me where it was?"

He nodded, sniffling.

* * *

It was well past dark before Bakura finally found the alley. He could see instantly that it was the perfect place for a mugging; the whole surrounding neighbourhood was like a ghost town, and there was nowhere to run or hide.

Despite everything, Bakura found himself chuckling at this thought. _The perfect place for a mugging_...He had never felt an urge to steal or harm, but thoughts like that had often crept into his head. His other self had rubbed off on him a little after all.

Although, the thought wasn't particularly irrelevant. There was no blood or signs of a struggle, but Yugi's back pack was sitting in the middle of the alley, untouched.

Bakura checked the contents, and found a few small valuables; a mobile phone, a wallet. Whoever had done this hadn't been stealing.

Bakura picked up the bag, not sure what else to do with it. Yugi would probably want it back when he was found. Bakura left the alleyway and looked up the street in both directions. Absolutely nothing to suggest where Yugi had-

"Bakura? Is that you?"

Bakura jumped at the voice, and turned to see Tristan and Joey running towards him.

"Hey, guys." Bakura was uneasy. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence that they were here, in the exact same place where Yugi had disappeared. They must have been looking for him too. Bakura wondered how much they knew about the Millennium Items' rediscovery. He didn't want to let anything slip if Yugi hadn't told them.

"Have you seen Yugi?" Joey asked, coming to a halt beside Bakura.

Bakura shook his head. "I'm here looking for him. I guess you heard."

"Yugi's Grandpa called to ask if he was with us," Tristan said. "He was with us all day; he can't have been missing for more than three or four hours."

_How far could he have gone in three or four hours?_ Bakura wondered. "I found this here just a minute ago," he said, holding up the back pack. "It's Yugi's. It doesn't look like a mugging. Whoever it was lured him into a trap and took him somewhere."

"Whoever it was'll need to be taken somewhere once I'm through with him," Joey said through gritted teeth.

Bakura had a hidden fear that this had something to do with the Millennium items, but he hesitated in voicing this to Tristan and Joey.

"I wonder if it's Kaiba!" Joey said suddenly. "Yeah, that rich boy's had it in for Yugi ever since he beat the Pharaoh. He's probably kidnapped him for a rematch, and it's about to get aired on live T.V.!" Joey was getting worked up. "I bet that's what it is! Well here's a news flash for you, moneybags. Nobody kidnaps our buddy and gets away with it."

Bakura almost groaned; there was no stopping Joey once he had an idea in his head...but he still tried. "Take it easy; this isn't the sort of thing that Kaiba would do-"

"Come on, Tristan; let's go waste that rich boy and rescue Yugi." Joey and Tristan had already taken off in the direction they had come. Bakura really did groan this time and ran after them. "Wait up, guys!"

* * *

"Mister Kaiba; there are three people outside here to see you."

Kaiba looked up, irritated as usual. "I thought I mentioned specifically not to take any appointments today, Roland."

Roland was standing in the doorway, addressing Kaiba, who was seated at his desk; a seemingly permanent fixture. "Well, Mister Kaiba, they haven't made an appointment."

"Then they can join the waiting list like everyone else. What makes them so special?"

"Sir, they are three friends of Yugi Moto," Roland went on.

Kaiba was suddenly interested. "Yugi is here?"

"No, sir, just three of his friends; Tristan Taylor, Ryou Bakura and Joey Wheeler."

Kaiba grew more displeased with each name on his guest list. "What business could they possibly have here," he grunted. "You'd better send them in; leave the door open – it won't take long."

"Yes, Mister Kaiba." Roland excused himself, and Kaiba grudgingly closed his computer.

His three visitors were led in, and Kaiba gazed at each of them with undisguised disdain. Wheeler had obviously prepared a great opening speech for this meeting, and it gave Kaiba great pleasure to cut him off before he could begin.

"Well, if it isn't the geek patrol. I'm fascinated; what makes you think that if I don't have enough time to play Duel Monsters anymore, I'd have time to kill with you three?"

"Shut up, rich boy," Joey yelled. "What have you-"

"_Please _don't tell me that you're trying to get me to join your little team for some great adventure to see these items that the archaeologists have dug up. Even you, Wheeler, couldn't be so stupid as to expect I'd agree to that."

Bakura flinched, but only Kaiba seemed to notice.

"I said _shut up_, Kaiba!" Joey spat. "As I was saying; what the hell have you done with Yugi?"

Bakura cast him an obscure sideways glance, but didn't say anything.

Kaiba sat back in his chair. "I haven't seen Yugi in two years. What makes you think he would be with me?"

"Don't lie to us, Kaiba," Tristan said, angry. "Yugi's missing, and you're going to tell us where he is."

"No, I'm not." Kaiba opened his computer dismissively. He was already bored of hearing their nonsense. "Even if I wanted to – which I don't – I couldn't, because I have better things to do than keep tabs on his every move."

"I told you it wasn't him..." Bakura muttered, but Tristan and Joey were too worked up to pay him any attention.

Kaiba was not. "I suggest you listen to your friend more often, Wheeler. Whether you like it or not, I'm not involved in this."

"Damn you, Kaiba..." Joey was on the verge of attacking him.

"Kaiba, whether you're involved or not doesn't matter," Bakura said. "If something happens to Yugi, you'll never get your opportunity to beat him. You'll always be second best in the public eye because you were never able to win back your title."

Kaiba looked at Bakura reproachfully. "If you want to find Yugi, I suggest that you do what most people would do and call the police. Now I also suggest that you and your friends remove yourselves from my office before I call the police and have you charged for kidnapping my little brother."

"That wasn't even m-"

"That wasn't even Bakura, you jerk!" Joey exclaimed, jumping at another excuse to yell at Kaiba. "Come on, guys. I told you Kaiba wouldn't help us."

"But, Joey, we came here because you thought Kaiba was the one who did it!"

"You said that, Tristan..." Kaiba couldn't hear what they said next because the two of them were getting out of earshot. Bakura gave a sigh and followed them out of Kaiba's office.

Kaiba resumed typing for a moment, and then spoke aloud into the seemingly empty room. "If you're going to run this company one day, Mokuba, I suggest you drop old habits like eavesdropping. It isn't very professional."

There was a pause, and then Mokuba Kaiba crept through the door sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Seto...I just thought it was odd that they would be coming here."

Seto sighed boredly. "Mokuba, it's none of our concern if Yugi wants to do something without telling his friends. Don't you have work to be doing?"

Mokuba looked away. "Yes, Seto...I'm sorry." He turned and trudged out of his brother's office.

* * *

Mokuba couldn't believe that his brother was being so stubborn! Despite the calm demeanour he showed when around Seto, he was fuming.

Mokuba knew perfectly well that Seto had seen exactly what Mokuba had seen in Egypt; there had been a second Yugi created, and the two of them had duelled. There was no way that such a thing was normal. And not to mention all of the other things that had happened to them since his brother had first duelled Yugi. Even Seto couldn't continue to regard everything that Yugi and his friends said as nonsense. Not after all that. Seto was simply too proud to admit that he had been wrong.

Mokuba knew that his brother must have been more concerned about the Millennium Items than he was letting on. Mokuba certainly was...

Yugi's disappearing so soon after the items' had been found – and stolen – was surely not a coincidence. Mokuba sighed as he made his way down the hall. He wanted to help Yugi's friends...but what could he do, with Seto refusing to listen to anything that he said anymore?

Mokuba missed Seto more than ever. He had grown now into a young teenager, but he couldn't forget the way it had been before...everything. Before they had met Yugi, before they had even met their step-father. The time they had spent living in an orphanage had been a happier time than now; at least then, Seto still smiled...sometimes. They had been best friends as well as brothers. Even later, after meeting Yugi, Seto had been cold, but had listened to what Mokuba had to say.

But now...Maybe Seto just needed to get out of his office. Mokuba wondered if helping to find Yugi would be a good opportunity for that to happen.

He brightened at this new idea. If Yugi really had gone to Egypt, there was nobody with better means of getting the rest of his friends there than the Kaibas. But, of course, Mokuba couldn't risk getting Seto involved if Yugi really _had _just gone out somewhere without telling his friends. Grinning, Mokuba quickened his pace, hoping that he would have enough time to catch up with Yugi's friends.

* * *

Just to clear it up, if you didn't figure it out; Joey was too worked up to make the connection when Kaiba mentioned the Millennium Items, and Bakura was surprised that he didn't.

Please review :D

~IA


	9. Reunion

Hoi folks :D

So I've got Chapter Nine up. I'm sorry if this is a bit of a slow chapter D: I promise that the next one will have a little bit more happen, not to mention the reappearance of another old character and the first appearance of a slightly irritating OC.

Once again, thanks for reading, please tell me what you think – it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside :D

~IA

* * *

Yugi felt sick inside. Sure, he had the Millennium Puzzle – the real one – and he had figured out Slater's plan and won the Shadow Game without sending the soul of Slater's mind slave to the Shadow Realm, but he had also had to use the Millennium Rod to do it; he couldn't believe that he had done the very thing that he himself hated with such vehemence, and taken control of someone's mind.

And now, Slater was on his way to New York. Yugi knew that Slater had chosen this next meeting place very deliberately – Téa lived there.

At least now, Yugi had in his head what he needed to do; there would be another six Shadow Games, one with each of the remaining items as the prize. If Yugi was able to win each of those, he would win the Millennium items. But if he lost even one...he would be sent to the Shadow Realm and Slater would be free to take back any of the items that Yugi had won.

And Slater wanted the next of these games to be in New York because he knew that Yugi would go there to make sure that Slater didn't hurt Téa.

The thing that scared Yugi the most was that Slater was right; there was no way that Yugi was leaving Téa at the mercy of the man he had just faced, even if that was what Slater wanted him to think. Who knew what he was capable of?

Shaking his head, Yugi set to work at gathering up the pieces of Millennium Puzzle. He wouldn't solve it until he was well away from here, in case Slater tried to come back and steal it.

Yugi didn't have his bag any more, so he kept the Puzzle in the bag that had contained the replica. As he left the building, it occurred to him that it had taken at least two hours to get here by car, it was the middle of the night, he had no idea where he was, and he didn't have his phone or any other means of finding help.

The moon offered very little light, but he could see that the building he had just left was surrounded by concrete for fifty feet in every direction. The cars that had taken him there had been parked just in front of it, and there were two roads on opposite sides of the concrete. Presumably, the one that had taken him here and the one that Slater had taken to leave. And where there were no roads or concrete, there were trees. Everywhere.

He looked from one road to the other. They both looked identical, and both seemed to lead to the middle of nowhere...

Yugi hated to admit it, but he knew that it was only being rational to suppose that his best course of action was to wait until morning before leaving; he couldn't risk getting lost on a road in the middle of a forest, in the middle of the night, when so much hung on his shoulders. For all he knew, it would take him several days to walk back to civilisation. He was better off staying here – where he had shelter – until he was able to assess what he needed to do, during the day.

Glancing regretfully at the two roads, he made his way back to the building. He was in for a hard night, but it wouldn't be as hard as sleeping out. And for all he knew, he could be doing that a lot in the next few nights.

Yugi found a place where he could watch the door without being too close to the cold air that was seeping in underneath it. He settled down, using his arm as a cushion and, clutching the bag containing the Millennium Puzzle to his chest with his other hand, he finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

It was pressing on eleven o'clock when Yugi's friends met up, fruitless for their efforts.

"Mokuba, I really think you'd better head back home now..." Bakura trailed off, not wanting to point out how much Kaiba would kill them if anything happened to his brother.

Mokuba shook his head, determined. "I'm going to help find Yugi whether Seto wants me to or not."

"I don't think your brother-"

"My brother doesn't know what's good for him," Mokuba insisted. After a moment, he added in a quiet tone, "The truth is, Seto _does_ believe about the Millennium Items, and all the Egyptian stuff that's happened to us. Even he can't deny all of that. He's just...too proud to admit it, even to himself."

Bakura, Mokuba, Tristan and Joey had been trying to find a lead on Yugi since they had left KaibaCorp. They were searching for a needle in a haystack; Domino City was big, and Yugi had last been seen in the emptiest part of it. Now, they had rendezvoused at Yugi's game shop to report on their findings, which was absolutely nothing. Out behind the shop, the four of them, and Grandpa, were seated around a table. After another minute of silence, Mokuba's head dropped onto the table. "Any more ideas?" he mumbled.

"Police?" Tristan wondered aloud.

"I guess we may have to get them involved," Joey said. "We can't risk Yugi's safety by waiting for too long."

"Surely if he was okay, he'd have found a way to call by now." Bakura had a glass of orange juice in front of him, but he just stared at it blankly, his thoughts elsewhere. "What we really need is an angel to appear and tell us where he is."

And, as if his words had triggered some kind of magical spell, an angel appeared. In the form of a phone call.

* * *

Yugi didn't have a watch, but he guessed that he couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours when he was awakened by the sound of an approaching vehicle.

He sat up, disorientated in the dark. He panicked for a moment when he couldn't feel the Millennium Puzzle, but his hand found it a moment later and he grabbed the bag, pulling it closer to him.

He didn't want to place bets on who it was; it really could have been anyone. Someone could have found him, or Slater could have come back. Before he gave himself a chance to find out, however, he had already acted. He crouched behind the desk as it offered the only cover in the room, and peered around it at the door.

Tristan and Joey were the first to burst through the door, followed by Mokuba and Bakura. Heaving a massive sigh of relief, Yugi jumped to his feet. "I –"

"Yugi!" Joey whooped, delighted.

"I can't believe we actually found you here, man," Tristan said. "That guy was telling us the truth after all."

Yugi wasn't sure what they were talking about, but at the moment, he didn't really care. He was just happy that they were all there.

"How did you know where to find me?" he asked.

"We got a phone call from this strange guy – he told us where to find you, and then hung up," Mokuba said. "We came here to see, since it was as good a lead as any, and your Grandpa stayed at the shop in case someone else called."

Yugi felt touched that they had all been looking for him. Although, Mokuba's presence here was a bit odd.

He asked.

Mokuba looked uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Seto doesn't know I'm helping. Oh – actually, he probably does by now," he added, laughing shakily. "He's should be coming to find me pretty soon. Then we'll all be together again – except for Téa. We can work on finding the Millennium items."

Yugi instantly assumed that his secret was out. He held up the bag before Tristan or Joey could say anything about Mokuba's comment. "I've got the Puzzle back. That's what I was brought here for – to solve it."

Yugi knew that he'd made a mistake as soon as he saw Bakura's face twitch uncomfortably, and Tristan and Joey's confused expressions. For once, both of them were struck utterly speechless.

"You...didn't tell them, Bakura?"

Bakura didn't meet any of the eyes that turned to him. "Well...no. No, I didn't."

Yugi sighed. "I guess it's too late to hide it now. Let's get you two up to date on the items, and then I'll get you all up to date on what just happened. A week ago, some archaeologists dug up the Millennium Items..."

The story was familiar to everyone except Joey and Tristan, but when he moved on to his experiences after he had left the arcade that afternoon, everyone was watching him with awed wonder. He told it as best he could remember, his voice becoming softer with shame as he started to explain how he had used the Millennium Rod. He still couldn't forgive himself for having used it.

"I'm guessing that the man who called you must have been the man Slater was using as my opponent," Yugi concluded. "I don't think that Slater is using mind control to make them do his bidding, but after he _did_ use it, the man he used it on had second thoughts about helping him, escaped, and then called the shop." Yugi had never been more grateful of the fact that everyone knew where he lived.

There was a stunned silence.

"Wow," Mokuba breathed.

"We should probably call Tea. Tell her what to expect," Yugi said. "It looks like our Egypt trip's been cancelled." Yugi was addressing Bakura. "I hope we'll be able to find a flight to New York before –"

"I have a better idea," Mokuba interjected. "It's arriving here right now – look!"

There was a scramble as everyone rushed to be the first to the door to see what Mokuba was talking about...not that it was very hard to see the giant helicopter that was hovering above them, or the person who was being lowed to the ground from it on a rope ladder. Seto Kaiba stepped onto the concrete and turned to face them all.

* * *

Before I confuse anyone, let's just say that Slater's henchmen all have satellite phones, which would be extremely handy when you work for a crazy guy who is often telling you to take off to random countries at a minutes notice, and that's how he called the Game Shop from the middle of nowhere...just wanted to clear that up ;D

PLEASE REVIEW~!~!~!

~IA


	10. A Skype Call

Welcome to the Chapter Ten milestone :D

I like this chapter – it has an 'evil Mokuba' scene at the end :D Although it wasn't nearly as fun to write as chapter thirteen. Chapter Thirteen was a good chapter. C13 beats C10.

Tea will be coming back in this chapter – I bet you didn't guess that after my AN last chapter, because I am a master of subtlety...

Anyway, please review O.O it make me feel warm and fuzzy inside ;D and thanks again for reading this far! It means a lot to me :'D

~IA

* * *

"I was hoping to have seen the last of you all for one day," Kaiba said, regarding each of them with cold indifference.

"Seto!" Mokuba didn't run up and embrace his brother as he would have done two years ago, but that was partly because he knew that he was going to be in _serious_ trouble.

Kaiba ignored his brother. His eyes were fixed on Yugi. "It's certainly been a while, Yugi." His voice was filled with contempt, as it always was.

Yugi held his ground against Kaiba's unwavering stare. Even after two years, he was accustomed to Kaiba's cold manner of treating...pretty much everyone.

Yugi didn't really know what to think of Kaiba. He had a great deal of respect for him as a duellist – who wouldn't? – but Yugi himself had never actually duelled Kaiba on his own. It was Atem who had been Kaiba's rival, not Yugi.

But still, whether Kaiba liked it or not, Atem had counted him as a friend, and so did Yugi. After everything that had happened to them in the four years leading up to the Ceremonial Duel, it was hard not to.

"Yes." Yugi was expecting Kaiba to make some demand of a rematch, but that would have to wait; it was the middle of the night, not to mention that he had to get to New York. And besides; Yugi hadn't brought his deck with him.

Another few seconds passed before Joey broke the ice. "What are you doing here, moneybags? Hadn't you already decided that your precious time was too important to spend with us?"

Kaiba looked like he was seriously contemplating ignoring Joey altogether, but he didn't. "I had, Wheeler, but then I realised that time spent in the company of you doesn't even count as time spent." His gaze shifted to his little brother. "Come on, Mokuba; they've found Yugi. This whole expedition has been nothing more than a waste of both our energy."

"No it hasn't!" Mokuba exclaimed. "They have to get to New York, and we have to take them there."

Seto looked at his brother as though he had spoken in Swahili. "Mokuba, we have work to do. We can't afford to be running around with these geeks again."

"We're standing right over here!" Joey exclaimed, irritated.

Seto enjoyed winding him up, but he didn't show it; he kept his attention on Mokuba, who was still standing beside Yugi and his friends.

"But, Seto!" Mokuba's voice was fringed with something similar to panic, but he kept his eyes steady as he addressed his brother. "They need our help!"

"I don't know what century you think this is, Mokuba, but flights to America from an airport have been available for a while now. They don't need a luxury trip on a private jet."

"But it's so difficult to book flights to other countries on short notice!" Mokuba exclaimed. "They need to leave _now_, not in a week!"

"It's not our problem."

"It will be our problem when Slater uses the Millennium items to take over the world!" Mokuba didn't actually know exactly what Slater was planning to use the items for, but it was probably something close to taking over the world.

"Mokuba." Seto was growing increasingly frustrated with Mokuba's persistent arguing. "We have to go." He didn't say anything more; he didn't need to. His message was clear enough.

"But-"

Seto had already turned away from them and grabbed the rope ladder. "Come on, Mokuba."

Mokuba didn't move for a moment. He took a few steps towards Seto, and then turned back to face Yugi and his friends. "I'm sorry...good luck, I guess."

And then he winked.

Without any further gesture, he grabbed the ladder and was lifted off the ground with his brother as the helicopter ascended.

Yugi watched them go, smiling to himself at the memory of the cheeky 'I'll be back' expression that Mokuba had been wearing just before he had left. _I don't think we've seen the last of him._

* * *

As soon as the ladder had been pulled back into the helicopter, Mokuba braced himself for the ticking off of the century from Seto.

It never came. The two brothers simply stared at each other for a minute before Mokuba turned his head away. "I'm sorry."

Seto's cold demeanour didn't falter; it never did. "Mokuba, I have more important things to be doing than chasing after you all afternoon. If Wheeler hadn't had his DuelDisk with him I wouldn't have been able to find you if something bad had happened."

Despite the apparent lack of emotion in his voice, Seto's words surprised Mokuba; it had been a long time since he had said anything that even remotely resembled concern. Mokuba suddenly felt guilty for having double crossed his brother.

"I really am sorry, Seto," he began, "but I had to help them – Yugi really was in danger! There was a man – the man who has the Millennium items – and he challenged Yugi to a Shadow Game, but he cheated, and-"

"Oh, joy, the Shadow Games again."

"-And Yugi nearly lost! And the man, Slater, has six of the Millennium items now, so he can read peoples thoughts, control their minds, see the future..." he trailed off, knowing that Seto wasn't taking anything he said seriously. He reeled in his nerves and continued speaking. "And he wants Yugi to meet him in New York! We have to help them get there. We saw what the items could do, in the Battle City tournament, and at Duellist Kingdom – we even had our souls trapped inside cards!"

"Mokuba, please, just stop. Whatever is going on with Yugi's little games, it doesn't concern you or I. We have a company to run."

Mokuba was on the verge of tears. "Why do you always say that?" he asked, his voice breaking on the last word. "You never _do_ anything except run this stupid company! You _are_ this stupid company! Why can't you stop being president of KaibaCorp and be Seto Kaiba for just one day? We can hire someone else to assist in the running of the company! You weren't always like this – Gozaburo's stupid company made you this way!" He could feel the tears welling in the corner of his eyes, and he turned and disappeared into the cockpit, since it was the furthest he could get from Seto without leaving the helicopter.

* * *

Since there was no reason to linger around the building, Yugi, Bakura, Tristan and Joey set off back to Domino City – and civilisation – as soon as the helicopter was out of sight.

"Man, I can't believe that Kaiba!" Joey fumed as they gained speed. "He's started treating Mokuba the same as he treats everyone – like he's doing them a favour by looking at them."

"Mokuba did run away in order to help us. I'd be a little upset too," Bakura muttered, trying to prevent a bitching fest about Kaiba before one erupted between Joey and whoever he could get to listen...but even Bakura couldn't bring himself to disagree with Joey. Kaiba had been utterly arrogant, and hadn't even been listening to Mokuba.

"I don't think Mokuba can be dissuaded that easily," Yugi said. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing him very soon."

After a minute or so of silence, Tristan spoke up. "So, New York."

"You guys aren't coming." Yugi didn't know why he still bothered telling them that it was too dangerous; that had never stopped them the millions of times before.

"Nice try, Yuug." Joey laughed. "There's no way you're going after Slater on your own."

Yugi looked up. All eyes in the car were on him. He averted their gazes by looking out the window at the unchanging scenery. "I suppose it wouldn't pay for me to tell you how dangerous Slater is?"

"Nope!" They all spoke at exactly the same time.

Yugi smiled, reddening. "Then I guess it's settled."

* * *

Téa Gardener was a year into her dance course. She had been living in America for the same amount of time, sharing an apartment with another girl from the same dance school, Amber. Although, her roomy wasn't nearly as dedicated as her; Tea had a habit of spending hours and hours every weekend alone in the studio, practicing, while Amber went out with friends, or just stayed at home and chilled.

It was a Saturday afternoon when she dragged herself up the stairs to her apartment and opened the door. She had left six hours ago, and had barely spent half an hour of that time off her toes. Utterly exhausted, she made her way into her room and collapsed face down on her bed.

Amber's voice drifted into her room.

"...And so then I was, like, 'I can't believe he would do that!' and then she went, like, 'I know, right!' and was all comforting and stuff. She's really nice."

Tea felt sorry for whoever she was talking to; she was going to be talking to them for a very long time.

She must have been on a Skype call, because Tea heard someone mumbling a reply. Frustrated, she got to her feet and poked her head into Amber's room. "Could you – hey, Amber, what are you doing with my computer?" Tea asked, noticing that Amber was sprawled on the floor looking at Tea's laptop, which was in front of her. Amber looked up.

"Oh, check it out! She just walked in. Hey, Tea! I didn't mean to answer your call, but they called, like, six times until I answered them, and I didn't know when your were coming back, so we were just talking about you until you got here."

Tea blinked, confused. "What...?"

Amber turned the computer around so that Tea could see the faces on the screen. Her heart leapt with excitement as she recognised Yugi, Tristan, Joey and Bakura. "Hey, guys!" she exclaimed, delighted. "Oh, um, thanks for taking the call, Amber," she added, wondering how long they had been stuck listening to her room mate.

"No problem." Amber got to her feet and handed Tea the computer. "That Yugi guy is adorable!" she whispered. "I can't wait to meet him!"

Tea didn't know what Amber was talking about, so she just took the computer and made her way back to her room, being careful to shut the door so Amber wouldn't follow her.

She set the computer on her desk and grinned at her laptop's webcam. "It's great to see you guys – how's everything been?"

"I think I'm going to be hearing that girl's voice in my head for the next year," Joey said to nobody in particular.

Tea laughed. "She means well, but she can be a bit...well, you met her."

The four of them exchanged some uncomfortable glances. "Téa," Yugi began, "have you heard about what happened with the Millennium items?"

Tea was instantly on alert. "No, why? What's happened?"

As they filled her in on the events of the past week, Tea regretted that she hadn't already known about it herself.

As would have been expected, she had developed a keen interest in archaeology after her experiences from two years ago and the four years beforehand, but lately, she hadn't really been paying any attention to anything in the papers that wasn't the front page news.

Tea stared at the screen in silence. "This 'Slater'...he's coming to New York?"

Yugi nodded. "We'll be joining him there as soon as we can – we just thought we'd better let you know what to expect."

_So Yugi and everyone else is coming here...that must have been what Amber meant about meeting Yugi._ At this memory, she felt her face flush with irritation about Amber thinking Yugi was 'adorable'. He was twenty!

"Well, thanks..." Tea said, bringing her attention back to the conversation. "When are you arriving? I'll meet you at the airport." _And Amber won't._

"We haven't found a flight yet – we'll let you know as soon as we find out."

"Okay. I –"

"Te-ah!" Amber called, opening the door. "Are you in here?"

Even Tea, who was usually so patient, could find Amber frustrating. _Where else would I be? And it's not like you need to call out if you've opened the door._ "Yes, what is it?"

"Can I say hi again?" she asked innocently, her round green eyes wide and questioning.

"Oh...I'm sorry, Amber. They just hung up," she said, hitting the 'end call' button to rescue her friends from another hour of listening to Amber.

"Aww...okay, then. By the way, can I come with you to the airport when they arrive?"

"Um...they don't know when, it might be during a dance lesson."

"It's okay – We can skip and catch up later. You already spent most of your weekend practicing, so I can just join you! Great – can't wait to meet your friends." She closed the door before Tea could protest further.

Sighing, Tea looked back at the screen. She didn't call back, in case Amber was listening. Besides; they had said everything they needed to.

* * *

Seto Kaiba was already seated at his desk, drinking his second cup of coffee that day, as six in the morning.

He was behind in his work, having spent the previous afternoon and most of the night in pursuit of his brother, and bringing him home. Because of this, he was even more irritated than usual when Roland opened the door of his office. "Mister Kaiba, sir?"

"What is it, Roland?"

"It's Mokuba; he's gone missing again."

Kaiba was not surprised that Mokuba had made another escape, although he hadn't expected it to be this soon. "I see. I'm seriously considering having him micro chipped after this." He sighed. "First, try Yugi Moto's game shop. If he's not there –"

"Sir, there's something else," Roland interjected. "He's taken the Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet."

* * *

"Honestly, Mokuba, you're what – fourteen? – and you can fly this thing by yourself? Is that normal for rich people?" Joey wanted to know.

"Hang on, stop talking; take-offs are tricky. Everyone sit down!" Mokuba yelled from the cockpit. In the back of the plane, his four passengers were getting themselves comfortable for their flight to New York, courtesy of Mokuba Kaiba, who had called each of them at four thirty that morning to demand that they met up at the KaibaCorp building in one hour with their luggage and passports. After Mokuba had fed a loop into the security cameras, the five of them had made their way to Kaiba's jet and were preparing for take-off.

"In another life, Mokuba would have made a great villain," Bakura said, thankful that he hadn't eaten breakfast as the jet sped off, in a manner that seemed unusually wobbly, in the direction of New York, America.

* * *

So much for my evil Mokuba scene...he was kind of evil :/ since he stole a plane. That kind of counts as evil...but it's Mokuba, so it actually doesn't. Oh, well :D

This paragraph contains minor spoilers...

Please don't think Amber is my interpretation of what people from NYC are like :'D I've never actually been there so I have no idea what people from New York are like...I just made her that way because it fit my needs. As it turns out, Amber gets a much bigger role in this story than I had originally planned for her. She doesn't become a main character, but she does however end up in more than the single chapter I had in mind for her, and one of those chapters is EPIC! It was even more fun to write than chapter thirteen :D

Oh, and another thing...I also thought it was weird pointing out that Yugi was twenty...but that's how it turned out :'D Can I get some help here; I'm not sure how old he was when he first solved the Puzzle; I think it might actually be fifteen in which case he would be twenty-one and I'll have to change it.

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter :D I'm going to be in Canberra for a couple of days, so if I don't put up chapter eleven tomorrow, which I probably won't (sorry :( ) I won't be updating until at least Tuesday :(

Okay, with that out of the way, please review :D

~IA


	11. Flying Air BlueEyes

It's time for another chapter :D

I'm sorry to have to do this after not updating in a week, but my grade is about to go into exam block, and I will therefore have to focus my attentions on study for the next two weeks – therefore, this will be my last chapter until block is over – I'M SORRRRRRRRRRY D':

Once again, thank you for reading this far and especially to those of you who reviewed in previous chapters – it really brightens my day when I have some reviews to read :'D

Okay, I'll start the chapter now – see you when the tests are over ;D

* * *

"Sir?"

It wasn't easy to avoid his henchmen inside a helicopter, but Slater was still annoyed at the intrusion – he had, after all, been hiding out the back for a reason. He looked up. "What is it, Dempsey?"

The man, Dempsey, was the same man who had addressed Yugi when they had kidnapped him. He was a tall, muscular man, and unlike the rest of the group, he looked to be in his late fifties; at least twenty years older than the oldest of the rest of them.

Dempsey cleared his throat. "Sir, I believe I should bring it to your attention that the others are getting restless. There's been talk of you planning to double cross them."

Slater chuckled, amused. "If they have their issues, then so be it, so long as they don't try to form a mutiny, which they won't."

"They are wondering about what happened to Hanson, sir. He just came running out of that place and took off in one of the cars. He tried to get everyone else to come with him; he said that you were a dangerous man. But they refused. Now they've had time to think, they want to know what happened, and if you don't tell them something soon, we'll have a rebellion on our hands."

"Will we?" Slater said airily, seemingly uncaring about Dempsey's warning.

"Sir, I shall remain faithful to you, but the others cannot be trusted."

"Whoever said I trusted them?" Slater sounded amused. "Don't worry; they'll have their petty rewards once I have what I want, then they can be free to do what they wish with them. If they last that long, of course." He laughed. "It all depends on how good a gamer Yugi Moto turns out to be. They should just hope he fails to acquire the scales in New York."

Dempsey hesitated. "Sir...I've known you for a long time. You can't seriously be risking another of the items with Yugi Moto?"

Slater waved it off. "The game I have in mind for the Millennium Scales is not particularly difficult. Yugi should be able to acquire them quite easily. However, you're right, Dempsey, about one thing; I'm not risking another item with Yugi, at least not after the Millennium Scales. I have another little twist for our stay in New York, and if all goes well, I won't need to."

Dempsey knew from experience that when Slater spoke so cryptically, there was no point in asking anything; Slater would tell Dempsey his plan when he saw fit, and not a minute sooner.

"Very well, sir." Dempsey prepared to leave.

"Don't worry, Dempsey; I'll pacify the others. We should be arriving in New York in two or three hours; then they can have whatever pep talks will set their minds at ease."

* * *

"At our current velocity, we should be arriving in New York in approximately fifteen hours," Mokuba said after the take-off was over and the jet had levelled out.

"Aye-aye, captain," Joey said, staring out the front window at the clouds.

"I'm leaving it on autopilot, but I'll stay in the cockpit in case anything goes wrong," he went on. "Try and get comfortable out the back; I'm sorry if it's a bit cramped – this jet wasn't designed for passengers."

"You can say that again," Tristan muttered as he and Joey left the cockpit to join Yugi and Bakura.

"Will we have enough fuel to last us the whole trip, Mokuba?" Bakura asked.

Mokuba looked back at them from the cockpit. "Yep – KaibaCorp has the best flight technology available; this thing can refuel in mid-air automatically, it's twice as fuel efficient as your average plane, not to mention that we've shaved more than an hour of one of the best flight times for a regular Japan to New York passenger flight."

"What about food?" Joey asked. "We didn't get time to eat this morning."

"There are some boxes of food in the cargo hold, somewhere. If you can find them, they're all yours; just leave some for me. And don't eat it too fast; we won't be stopping until we get to America."

Tristan, Joey and Bakura groaned; they were all keen eaters.

"Anyway," Mokuba went on. "Enjoy your flight, I guess."

Tristan and Joey instantly took off to sort through the various boxes in the back of the plane.

Yugi looked at Mokuba. "Thanks. Really...thank you." He didn't know what else to say; Mokuba had put himself out so much, just to get them to New York.

Mokuba smiled. "No problem."

Yugi watched Tristan and Joey making a mess of the orderly array of boxes in the cargo hold for a moment, before sitting down with his back against the wall.

"Wish I'd brought a book," Bakura said absentmindedly.

"Yeah." Yugi nodded. "It's going to be a long flight, especially with those two arguing back there." He gestured to the cargo hold.

"God yes," Bakura said, smiling.

They lapsed into silence for another minute or so, listening to Tristan and Joey arguing about who got to pop the bubble wrap that some of the food was wrapped in. Finally, Bakura spoke up in a very quiet voice. "Do you miss the Pharaoh?"

Yugi was surprised by this question, but he answered all the same. "Yes...a lot." He sighed. "It's really empty, like I've lost an arm or a leg; there's something missing that should be there. It just _should_. I mean, I know that what happened was for the best, but I still..." He sighed again. "I guess I could say that I miss him, but I don't want him back; I could never wish for that – it wouldn't be fair to him."

Bakura was nodding to himself. "Yeah."

Yugi cast him a sideways glance. "What about you?"

Bakura looked at the ceiling to avoid looking at Yugi. "I don't miss him – the theif king, I mean – and I don't want him back. I'm glad he's gone and I wish that he'd never been there. I know that, but...it's like it is with you and the Pharaoh; there's a part of me that should be there but isn't."

Yugi looked at him sympathetically, not knowing what to say.

"It wasn't like it was with you and the Pharaoh," he went on. "I was never in control; when I was 'let out' it was only when it suited his needs. And we didn't usually speak directly to one another, like you did. Most of the time I couldn't even remember what happened when he was in control."

"Your bond never grew like mine and Atem's did," Yugi said.

Bakura laughed dryly. "No, and I'm glad it didn't. I would be ashamed to call someone like that my friend. But...it enabled him to keep secrets from me – secrets that could have helped you. Like when he stole the Millennium Eye – he was hiding it right under my nose, and I didn't even know, so I couldn't tell you when I got the chance. And when I did know things, like the truth about Marik in Battle City, I would never get a chance to tell anyone because he would keep me under his control. And he would do stuff to my body, like what he did to my arm." His hand reached up and rubbed his arm at the memory.

Bakura looked at the floor. "I know what happened to him, in Ancient Egypt; he was just a kid and he saw his village being destroyed to create the Millennium Items. Even I, who shared his mind, can't imagine how much it must have hurt him, but..." He sighed. "You don't try to destroy the world because of that."

Yugi had no idea of what he could say; he didn't even want to imagine what it would have been like for him if Atem had been evil.

"The Millennium Ring, Yugi." Bakura turned his head to face Yugi. "Slater can use it to trap the souls of whoever he wants, wherever he wants. That's the reason the other Bakura took a fancy to it. A man like Slater is bound to have enemies; we can't let him use it on them."

Yugi nodded. "It's the only Millennium Item that can be used to directly harm someone." He sighed, resting his chin on his knees. "I just wish Slater didn't hold all of the cards; he chooses which item to put up as the prize for each Shadow Game, so I won't be able to get the Ring back until he wants to risk it in a game. And in order for me to win all seven items, I have to win seven games, because he's going to use a mind slave in each game, but I only have to lose once and he gets to keep all of the items I've won back." He took out the Millennium Puzzle and emptied the pieces onto the floor in front of him.

"You still haven't solved it?"

Yugi shook his head. "I don't trust Slater to make a game that I can win; it was only by figuring out his strategy that I won last time. I can't count on being so lucky in New York. If he wins the Puzzle back from me, I won't be handing it to him all finished on a silver plate."

Bakura picked up one of the pieces. "Couldn't you just take it apart at the last minute if it looked like you were going to lose? If you have it already solved when you see him next, you'd be less likely to accidentally think about how to solve it."

Yugi took the piece from Bakura and turned it over in his hand. "I suppose so." He looked at the Puzzle. "And it would give me something to do on the way over. For about five minutes." He laughed.

Bakura opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Tristan and Joey's return from the cargo hold. "It's time for our first in-flight meal!" Joey announced, as they both sat down with Yugi and Bakura. He dropped several packets of chips in the middle.

"Got dibs on the salt and vinegar," Tristan said, grabbing the first pink bag that he saw in the pile.

"Save me some chicken flavour!" Mokuba called from the cockpit.

"Say, Yuug, you brought your deck with you?" Joey demanded. "How about a little duel after this? I bet I could beat you this time."

"Yeah, good luck with that one, Joey," Tristan said, opening his chip packet and jumping when it popped from being opened at altitude.

Yugi smiled to himself, glad to know that some aspects of life never changed.

* * *

Two packets of chips each and three thousand eight hundred of Joey's life points later, Mokuba received a transmission through the jet's radio.

"Mokuba, I have to admit it was clever of you to jam the jet's remote control system before you left. That's exactly what I would have done."

"Thanks, bro," Mokuba said out loud, but without transmitting it back to Seto. In the back of the plane, his four passengers turned their attention from Joey and Yugi's duel.

After about a minute passed without Mokuba responding to his brother's message, Yugi asked, "Are you going to answer him?"

Before Mokuba could reply to Yugi, Kaiba's voice came through the radio again.

"Mokuba, I know you can hear me. I'm not going all the way to New York to find you; I'll send someone else, so you may as well save yourself the trouble of trying to drag me into this and turn around before you get to America."

Mokuba didn't look at the radio because its knobs and dials suddenly reminded him of Seto's cold, emotionless eyes. _He's bluffing; of course he'd come to find me himself. There's no way he's that far gone. _Mokuba was determined. _He'll come to find me, and we'll both help Yugi find the items. That will break down the businessman shell he's hiding in. I can't watch him turn into Gozaburo. I just can't._

"It really is pointless, you know."

"Stop trying to scare me," Mokuba said through gritted teeth, still without transmitting his reply to Seto. "I'm not replying. You can follow us to America and talk to me in person if you're so keen on talking to me."

Joey seized this opportunity to antagonise Kaiba and ran up to the controls. He hit the 'transmit' button. "Hi, moneybags. We've kidnapped your brother and stolen your dragon jet – I hope you don't mind! By the way, the chips were delicious."

Mokuba slapped his hand away from the radio transmitter and Joey sat down again smugly. Mokuba went back to monitoring the flight as set down by the autopilot without saying another word to Yugi or his friends. He knew that Seto wouldn't believe what Joey had said; it would only serve to irritate him. Then his mood saddened. No, it wouldn't irritate him, because Seto was always irritated. But that would change soon. He would make sure of it.

* * *

On the note of Yugi's comment about the Millennium Ring...Yugi doesn't know that the Millennium Items can shoot laser beams at one another :D

I'm sorry to all the yaoi fans out there about how Ryou was describing Bakura - I'm not against fanfics in which the two of them are friends, but it just didn't fit in with my story D:

Another thing - I didn't originally mean to portray Joey as being a bad duellist, but that was how it came out. I know that Joey was a great duellist by the end of the series...but as everyone knows, Yugi is always better ;)

Next chapter coming up in two weeks. If one comes up before that, it means that I'm not studying, so please have a good yell at me if that happens :D

I'll see you guys later then – please tell me what you think of this so far! I will give you a free hug :D


	12. Arrival

HOI EVERYONE! – happy Easter :D :D :D

Time for chapter twelve – I hope you like it...sorry for taking so long to put it up :'D

Okays, I'll move onto the chapter – please review ;D

* * *

"Hey, Téa?"

"What is it, Amber?"

Tea looked up from the dance routine she was writing to see her roomy standing in the doorway of her bedroom.

"I just checked the mail –" She cut herself off at this thought. "Seriously, who writes letters anymore? It would save everyone so much time and money to not have to check for mail all the time. Email is better, and it –"

"Amber?"

"Eh? Oh, sorry. Letter. Here ya go." She walked in and dropped the letter on Tea's desk. "It's weird, because it just has your name and our room number, and no actual address, so they must have just left it downstairs with the mail guy – hey, have you noticed how hot this new mail guys is? He's..."

_Yeah, you totally don't have ADD. _Tea smiled to herself about her room mate's innocence as she opened the letter. Then her smile turned into a frown.

"_Tell Yugi: Tonight, nine o'clock, stand outside apartment building, bring Puzzle. No tricks. A.S._"

"A.S..." she muttered.

"..And so then I'll go up to him and be, like, 'can you deliver this'? And he'll think I'm gone and he'll open it, and it'll be from me and it'll say...hey, Téa? Te-ah! Yoo hoo!" Amber bent her head to one side to look Tea in the eyes. "Problem? What did the letter say? Oh, god! Was it from the mail guy? What did he say? Can I read-"

"No, it was just some prank letter." Tea tossed it in the paper bin. Amber looked decidedly disappointed, and left, still muttering to herself about how to get the mail guy to ask her out.

As soon as the door was closed, Tea picked up the letter again. 'A.S.' could only mean Slater, which meant that this was Slater telling Yugi where to go for their next Shadow Game.

Téa gulped. Then Slater was already in New York; it had been about twenty-four hours since she had spoken to Yugi and the others, and Slater had already left at that time. He had probably arrived several hours ago and was setting up the scene for his next game with Yugi.

Tea wondered if they would arrive in time for tonight; she hadn't heard from them since yesterday; for all she knew, they were still in Japan.

* * *

After Yugi had thrashed Joey twice, the four of them spent the next few hours of the flight sleeping; none of them had slept more than a few hours last night.

Yugi was the first to wake. Looking around at the others sprawled on the floor in the limited confines of the jet, he smiled to himself. Remembering what he and Bakura had spoken of before Joey and Tristan had arrived with the chips, he took out the Millennium Puzzle. Almost without thinking, he started to put it together.

He couldn't imagine how it had taken him eight hears to first solve it; each piece seemed like a magnet to the ones that it fitted with, like they wanted to be solved and Yugi was merely an instrument for them to do so. As he had predicted, it only took him five minutes to put it together. He held it in front of him, mesmerised by it. He suddenly realised that he had never held just the Puzzle; it had always contained the spirit of Atem. This was the first time it had been in his possession without the Pharaoh.

He took out the chain which he had brought with him and fed it through the loop at the top. He placed it around his neck. Despite the added weight, he could have sworn that a weight had just been lifted from his shoulders.

* * *

The door knocked just as Téa and Amber were preparing dinner. Tea's hands were covered in chopped onion, so Amber ran around to answer the door.

"Hi, Yugi!" she exclaimed, delighted. Tea started silently fuming as her roomy gave her friend a big hug and invited him in. She wouldn't have been surprised if Amber had shut the door on everyone else's faces.

Tea ran to the sink to rinse her hands, and then turned to greet her friends, but was cut off by the fact that Tristan and Joey had already run into the kitchen to greet her with an enormous hug.

Laughing, she went into the lounge room to rescue Yugi from Amber with Tristan and Joey in tow. Five minutes later, they had crowded around the table, Tea making sure that she sat between Yugi and Amber.

They sat at the table and caught up for a while, before Tea and Amber got up to finish dinner. It wasn't until three hours after they arrived that Tea was finally able to convince Amber to go out, and the six of them were left alone.

"Yugi, listen," Tea said, as soon as the door had closed on Amber. "I got this about four hours ago; it's from Slater."

Her guests crowded around Yugi to read the note that Téa had handed him. They all looked up and stared at her. "We've got less than half an hour," Bakura said.

Tea nodded. "I would have told you sooner, but Amber..."

"Don't even start," Joey said. "We have to get ready to go."

Yugi clutched the Millennium Puzzle. There was no way he could lose to Slater; too much was at stake.

Tea touched his shoulder. "Yugi...I'm really sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't be. It's not your fault that this happened." He lifted his head to look at all his friends. "We've been in worse cases than this, and we've always pulled through. This is no different."

As the others murmured their agreement, Yugi found himself wondering, _What does Slater have in store now?_

* * *

"I've already told you; three days, absolute tops. I need to have access to the DuelDisk system so that I can track where Yugi and his little buddies are, since Mokuba will be with them. Make sure there are no faults in the system; I don't have time to waste while you're all fixing glitches."

Seto Kaiba had left for New York ten hours ago in a single person jet. He couldn't believe he was doing this; it was exactly what Mokuba wanted.

But then again, Mokuba needed to understand that playtime was over; he was part of KaibaCorp, and Seto needed to show him that his little escapades were not a joke. And how better to do that than by going all the way to New York himself; if it were a simple, laughing matter, Seto would have no problem with sending someone else to catch his wayward brother.

Kaiba had expected a response from the people back at KaibaCorp, but when none came after a minute, he become frustrated. "Did you hear me?" he asked.

There was a moment of static, and then;

"Hello, Seto Kaiba. Your staff can't hear you."

_Oh, great. A hacke_r. "State your name and purpose."

"My name is Stephen Dempsey. I'm afraid that I have to ask you to turn around."

"That's not going to happen," Kaiba said matter-of-factly. "I have business in New York and you're not going to stop me from getting there, Dempsey."

There was a chuckle through the radio. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Kaiba. I really must say that it's in your best interests to head back to Japan."

Kaiba was unfazed. "I know perfectly well what I'm getting into; absolutely nothing. I'm not going to involve myself in anything more than taking someone back to KaibaCorp."

"This is your last chance, Kaiba."

"It doesn't change anything."

"So be it; it would be difficult for us to meet face to face at the moment, so I'll see you in New York."

Kaiba looked at the radar. There was absolutely nothing that the signal could have come from, but judging by the quality of the signal, this 'Dempsey' must have been close.

He pushed it away. Seto Kaiba was not going to be intimidated by someone like Dempsey. He continued his course for America.

* * *

Thanks for reading :D I hope you liked this chapter :'D

Anyways, please review, and I'll see you in Chapter thirteen!


	13. Split Up

Soooo...Chapter thirteen is up :D Thank you thank you thank you for reading this far :D

I just realised something that proves that my inane ramblings are not to be trusted; this is NOT my favourite chapter so far as I said it was in my previous ANs. Not because I've got a new one, but because I was talking about the wrong chapter. Yeah...I put 'chapter thirteen' at the top of both this chapter and the next one. So my current favourite chapter it the NEXT one. Woopsie daisy :D

I think I may have said this earlier, but I have never actually been to NYC, so the description of it in this chapter is all interpretive...that's why I don't go into too much detail

I know you've probably gotten tired of me saying this, but... **please review *irresistible puppy face* **I'm sorry I'm a little presumptuous in saying that you guys are actually liking this story, but if you've read up to chapter thirteen then I'll just have to be :'D So yeah...basically what I'm saying is, please review! I haven't had a single review in nearly a month and I'm starting to develop abandonment issues *cries*

Anyways...I'll get started :) see you guys laterz!

~IA

* * *

Domino was big, but it had nothing on New York.

As he waited with Yugi and the others waited at the bottom of Téa's apartment building for whatever Slater had planned, Bakura found himself being baffled by the bright city lights along with the rest of their group. Despite the circumstances, it was hard not to; the biggest city he had ever been to was Domino, and he had never even thought of considering it small. They had come to the apartment building by car; this was the first time he had stood on the pavement and been surrounded by the lights and sound for more than a moment.

Tea noticed their bewildered expressions. "It takes a bit of getting used to," she said, laughing.

The city vibe faded from all of them as a sleek black car pulled up in front of them.

The man who stepped out wasn't dressed in black or wearing a balaclava, but Bakura didn't doubt that he was hiding weapons under his enormous jacket. He surveyed the six of them, his eyes finally settling on Yugi. "Your friends may come, but they will not be with you during the game. This car only fits five; two of you will have to stay behind."

"Like that's happening," Joey said, right in the man's face. Bakura had to hand it to him; he had some guts – the man was twice his size, and Joey was no shrimp.

The man was not intimidated by Joey at all, and he simply stared him down. "I will say it again; two of you will stay behind."

"I will," Mokuba said suddenly. All eyes turned to him.

"I'll stay behind and take care of things here," he went on. "Bakura, you too."

Bakura felt slightly offended. "Why should I –"

"Just trust me," he hissed. Bakura didn't have an inkling of what his plan was, but he reluctantly agreed. "Okay, I'll stay here with Mokuba...let us know the second something happens."

Yugi looked doubtfully from Mokuba to Bakura, but he didn't complain. He, Tea, Tristan and Joey entered the car, and the man cast Mokuba and Bakura each a glance, fringed with an emotion that Bakura couldn't quite place, before getting into the car as well. Within twenty seconds, they had disappeared into the city.

Bakura looked at Mokuba. "Please tell me you have a plan."

Mokuba was already making for the door. "Don't worry; I'm on it. Come on; let's get back up and hide somewhere before Tea's room mate gets back."

* * *

After seizing control of Tea's computer, Mokuba locked himself and Bakura in Tea's room.

"I'm sorry that I had to keep you here while the others went with Yugi," he explained, "but I didn't think there was any way of convincing any of the others to stay behind."

"Sure, it's fine." Bakura felt a little upset that Mokuba had assumed that, but deep down he knew it was true; he had never been as close to Yugi as Tristan, Joey and Téa were.

Mokuba opened Tea's laptop. "I'm going to use the KaibaCorp DuelDisk system to track Yugi and Joey, since they both had their DuelDisks when they left. Then we'll be able to follow them to wherever Slater's henchman takes them."

_So he did have a plan_. Bakura was relieved; he didn't think he could have handled waiting around for several hours in suspense, especially with a fourteen-year-old whom his alter-ego had once kidnapped and sent to the Shadow Realm.

Just as Mokuba started typing, they heard a voice from the other side of the apartment. "Tea! I got everyone matching 'I Love NY' duffel bags, and I also got Yugi a cap, a t-shirt...Hey, where is everyone?" There were a few footsteps, and then a knock on the bedroom door. "Hello?"

Bakura and Mokuba looked at each other. They both shook their heads.

And then they heard a key turn in the lock.

Bakura almost killed himself. _What's the point of having a lock on the door if the only other person living here has a key?_

Amber poked her head inside. "Oh...um, hi. I guess Yugi and everyone left?"

"Yeah," Bakura said. "They went out somewhere, and I stayed behind to babysit Mokuba."

"Hey!"

Amber noticed Tea's computer and walked up, peering over Mokuba's shoulder. "Hey, why are you hacking the KaibaCorp website?"

"It's not hacking; I have a password," Mokuba said, hitting the enter button.

"What are you-"

"Okay, I'm in." Mokuba typed Yugi's name into the database of registered DuelDisk users as Amber and Bakura looked on. He clicked the appropriate entry, and they were taken to a map of the world, with a red dot above New York.

"Seriously, who are you people?"

"His brother's Seto Kaiba. I'm a friend of his brother's rival."

Amber looked quizzical. "I'm...not even going to ask why Seto Kaiba's rival's friend and brother are just randomly taking a trip to New York together."

"Long story. You found them yet, Mokuba?"

The screen had started zooming in on the red dot until a map of New York was before them. Mokuba's finger traced the dot that was Yugi's DuelDisk, which was moving across the screen. "They haven't arrived at wherever they're going yet."

"We should follow them before they get too far ahead."

Mokuba was already inserting his internet dongle into the computer's USB port. "We'll have to take a taxi."

"No, you won't!" Amber rushed out of the room and grabbed her keys. "I have no idea what you two are up to, but I'll take you!"

* * *

Slater was waiting for Yugi to arrive. There was, of course, no hurry, and he was on the phone to Dempsey.

"Did you manage to make contact?"

"Yes, sir. I can confirm that Seto Kaiba is on his way to New York."

He almost bit his tongue off with frustration, and was relieved that nobody was watching him. "It will only cause a problem if he lingers," he said. "With any luck, he'll track down his brother and go. I'm afraid it was necessary for Mokuba to be here for this part of Yugi's trip. Ah, speaking of little Mokuba, I should be hearing from Dirkse soon; keep me posted." He hung up and dialled a new number.

"Mister Slater, sir."

"Dirkse. Can you tell me something good?"

"Yes, sir. Mokuba Kaiba and Ryou Bakura are staying behind in the girl, Tea's apartment."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Continue."

"The bugs we put in her apartment show that Mokuba is using the KaibaCorp DuelDisk system to track where Yugi and the others are going, as you said he would."

Slater wasn't surprised that the Millennium Necklace had been right, but he smiled, satisfied, nonetheless. "I presume that you've already taken it upon yourself to hack the system and alter the apparent location of the DuelDisks, using the password I gave you?"

"Yes, sir; assuming that all goes well, they won't be able to find where we've taken Yugi and his friends."

"Don't worry, Dirkse; all will go well. Keep me posted." Without waiting for a response, he hung up and sat back, turning the Millennium Rod over in his hands. He didn't like the idea of the younger Kaiba and Ryou Bakura coming with Yugi. It wasn't part of his plan. He got up to look at the spectacle he had prepared for his Shadow Game with Yugi. It really didn't seem worth the effort, considering that he had every intention of letting Yugi win; after all, soon it wouldn't matter how many Millennium Items Yugi had in his possession.

* * *

Yugi watched the disappearing figures of Mokuba and Bakura until they turned a corner and he could see them no more.

The driver tossed a bundle of cloth to Yugi and his friends. "Blindfold yourselves, and don't try anything funny; I'll know if you can see."

Yugi didn't doubt what he was saying, and neither did Tea, Tristan or Joey. They tied the cloth over their eyes and waited for whatever was coming.

Yugi had an all-too-familiar sense of déjà vu. He was waiting, completely at the mercy of Slater's henchman, unable to see. But this time, he wasn't alone. He felt an immense sense of relief from knowing that his friends were in the car with him, coupled with fear that he was putting them in danger by having allowed them to come.

Again, Yugi didn't know for how long they were driving, but it was certainly less than the first time. When the car stopped and one of the doors opened, he could still hear traffic.

"You will all get out here and your friends will be taken to a viewing point above where the Shadow Game is to take place." Yugi couldn't see, but he knew the man was addressing him. "You will come with me, Yugi Moto. I will take you to Slater."

"No way!" Yugi recognised Joey's voice. "We're not leaving Yugi to face Slater on his own."

"You should have paid more attention, boy; you will not be with Yugi during the game. Be thankful that we are allowing you to come."

"Hey, just wait a second..." Yugi heard his three friends start to protest as they were led away, but after a moment, he couldn't hear them over the sound of the New York traffic. He was alone.

"Come this way." Yugi knew that he was being led in the opposite direction that his friends' voices had gone. Just like last time, he felt himself be led through a doorway. This time, however, he was taken up an unusually long flight of stairs and along what felt like a walkway.

"Take off the blindfold." Slater's henchman said nothing else, and Yugi heard him walking away. His fingers feeling numb, he pulled off the blindfold and looked around him.

He was, as he had predicted, standing on a walkway that surrounded an enormous room. Below his feet, the room went down for at least three stories, and above him, at least another four. Opposite him, on the other side of the walkway, was Slater. He could practically feel his single blue eye burning into him. Yugi made a conscious effort not to look at him, and to take in his surroundings. Suspended from dozens of metal cables, in between Slater and Yugi, was a set of scales of enormous proportion. They spanned the entire room, with one of its sides on each side of the room.

And they were currently unbalanced; Slater's was several metres above his head, and Yugi's several metres below.

As Yugi looked down at what was weighing down his side, he gasped. The Millennium Scales were there, just a few metres away! Along side them, he saw several iron bars, adding to the weight on the giant scales. Yugi looked up and saw that Slater's side was empty.

"Yugi!"

Yugi looked up at the sound of Téa's voice. He saw his three friends standing on another walkway, one story above Yugi and Slater's. _Where they can watch, but not interfere..._

"Hang in there, man!" Tristan called. "We're right here."

Feeling a confidence boost from his friends' words of encouragement, he looked across at Slater.

Slater waved at Yugi. "What do you think of my little set up, Yugi?"

"What are you playing at, Slater?" Yugi demanded.

Slater tutted. "I should have known that you wouldn't appreciate all the trouble I went to prepare for our game. But no matter; I shall explain the rules to you.

"As you can see, the Millennium Scales are what I'm putting up as the prize, and the Millennium Puzzle is what you are. As an act of good faith, I'll let you hang onto it for the duration of this game, but I shall expect it back in the case of my winning."

"You're not going to win," Yugi said simply.

"Ah, but of course you would say that. Now, to carry on; the rules are simple. If you can reach out and take the Millennium Scales by the end of the game, they are yours to keep. If you cannot, the Scales and the Puzzle are mine. As you can see, the Scales are being weighed down on the larger scales by nine kilograms of extra weight. In order to be able to reach them, you will have to balance the scales. And that's where these come in:"

Slater indicated to Yugi some numerous bags that were hanging from the ceiling. They were being held just above Slater's side of the scales and a rope on each one looped above a pulley on the distant ceiling, before coming back down and tying to Slater's side of the walkway's railing.

"There are thirteen, each containing sand equal to one kilogram. In order to make the scales balance and allow you to reach the Millennium Scales, I must place ten of them on my side of the scales."

"Now, I will ask you thirteen riddles, each one corresponding to one of the bags. If you get it right, I will cut one of the ropes, and a bag will fall, weighing down my side by one kilogram. If you get it wrong, I will not. Since there are thirteen bags but only ten are needed, you can afford to get three wrong. And, of course, there will be no help from your friends. Understand?"

Yugi nodded. Slater was right; it was simple. There were thirteen questions and he needed to get ten right.

"Wonderful! Now, of course, I will be forced to sit this one out; it really is such a shame, but I have somewhere else of equal importance to be." He sighed regretfully. "I have an appointment that I simply cannot afford to miss. But, don't worry, for I shall be here in spirit, so to speak." He lifted his hand to show that he was holding the Millennium Rod. As Yugi watched, it started to glow.

The man who came and stood beside Slater was the same man who had driven them here. "This is Desmond Lopez; he'll be filling in for me today. Tell me how it all turned out, Yugi!" And without looking back, he turned and disappeared down a flight of stairs leading up to his side of the walkway.

"That jerk!" Joey shouted. "He can't even be bothered to stay! I bet he's too afraid of losing again!"

But Yugi's thoughts were elsewhere; where could Slater possibly be going that he could consider more important than a Shadow Game?

"So, Yugi." Yugi looked over at the man, Lopez. He had a new voice, but there was no mistaking Slater's smug confidence. Lopez was under mind control.

"I see that you're getting a little edgy, so why don't we start off and get this little game over with?"

Before Yugi could answer, he felt the darkness of the Shadow Realm begin to envelope them, and soon, all he could see was himself, Lopez, the hanging sandbags and the giant set of scales that spanned the enormous room.

* * *

Okays, so don't worry :D You're not the only ones who thought the words "Hang on, so Yugi's friends are taken along so that they can watch, and then they just have to watch a big black chunk of Shadow Realm for the duration of the game with no idea what's going on?" Yeah...ignore that XD

I don't actually know how old Mokuba would be here, but I figured that fourteen would be accurate enough. I can't imagine him as having been any more than twelve when the series ended.

Oh and yeah...I'm an Aussie, so I'm using kilograms :D Sorry to be confusing D:

**PLEASE REVIEW! **Even if it's just one or two words saying 'good' or 'bad' ~.~ Free virtual cupcakes to all reviewers! Come on, how can anyone resist virtual cupcakes?

Anywho, thanks SO MUCH for reading this far :D Really, thank you *sniffle* I'll see you guys later :) ttfn ^.~

~IA


	14. Round Two: The Millennium Scales

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed last chapter :) *Hands out cupcakes*

I'M FINALLY UPDATING CHAPTER FOURTEEN! YAY!

And let me tell you, it ends with one huge ass plot twist ^^

So as explained in the previous chapter, this Shadow Game involves solving riddles. The reason I loved writing this chapter so much was that I spent about three hours surfing the net for the best ones. I'm quite proud of some of the ones I found...although some of them are pretty lame. Deal :/

You'll probably notice that some of the riddles Lopez asks aren't actually shown here. It's because there are only a certain amount of bad riddles that I can put in without being embarrassed by them XD You'll see what I mean. Anyway, try solving the riddles yourself before reading the answers ^^ that's what I did...I didn't get any of them. But you never know – you may get lucky :D

Anywaaaay – thanks again for reading :D See you at the end of the chapter!

* * *

Lopez leaned against the railing of the walkway in Slater's nonchalant manner. "Just to make sure you get the hang of things, I'll start off very simple. You are a bus driver; at the beginning of the day there are ten people on the bus. As the bus visits various stops, six people get off, four people get on, three people get off, nine people get on..."

Yugi was lost after the first three stops. His heart started pounding. He had no idea how he was supposed to answer this.

"...seven people get off, twelve people get on, two people get off, eight people get on; what's the bus driver's name?"

Yugi stared at him, absolutely stumped. The bus driver's name? What did the bus driver's name have to do with how many passengers got on and off his bus? He felt himself grow cold. He couldn't remember Lopez making a hint at the bus driver's name in the long list of the passengers' numbers. He couldn't afford to get wrong what was supposed to be the easiest question! Frantically, he ran through the question again...and saw the answer. It was so obvious that he felt silly for not knowing. "His name is Yugi."

Lopez smiled, and without hesitating, he cut one of the ropes attached to his railing. Above their heads, one of the sandbags fell and landed on his side of the scales. Yugi saw his side – and the Millennium Scales – inch closer to him.

"So now you see how it works. Now, next question; if half of one is one and half of ten is five, then what is half of twelve?"

Yugi froze. Half of ten was five; that part made sense. But half of one is one? That was just a mystery.

He knew that half of twelve was six – but was that the answer? Judging by the 'half of one is one', he figured that there was more to it than that.

Yugi ran through any possible twists to the question; fractions, decimals, infinity...nothing made sense; how could half of one be one, if half of ten was five?

He considered the image of the numbers themselves. Slicing them in half on any axis didn't make any legible numbers. Unless...

Yugi looked across the room at Lopez, and his thoughts moved onto Slater himself. He hadn't paid it much mind until now, but judging by his accent, Slater was an American. Maybe this wasn't related to the Japanese numerals.

It made sense; if the number one were represented by a line, as it was in the Hindu Arabic number system, half of that line would be another line; another one. But the half of ten...

Something twigged in the very back of his mind; a maths class that he had ignored, thinking that it would never apply. Something to do with Rome...

The Roman numeral system! That was it! The symbol for ten was 'X', and X sliced in half was 'V', or five. He felt his excitement growing. He knew what he had to do; find twelve in Roman numerals and slice it in half.

And twelve in Roman numerals was 'XII'. "The answer is seven."

As he had done before, Lopez cut another rope, and another sand bag fell. The Millennium Scales came just a little closer.

_Eight more to go_...Yugi heaved a sigh of relief. He had made it this far; how hard could the rest of them be?

* * *

"And so if it has a bank but can't put in money, it moves without legs, and has a mouth that cannot eat, it has to be a river."

The third bag fell. The fourth, the fifth. Whatever questions Slater's mind slave threw at Yugi, he found the answer. Yugi was getting more confident

"You walk into a grassy field that nobody has entered for at least six months. It is completely empty except for two stones underneath a weather beaten hat. How did they get there and why?"

Yugi pondered this one for what felt like forever. "Someone put them there...as a joke," he said finally, knowing that it was wrong.

It was. "Ah, Yugi; you were on a roll, too! I'm afraid that while someone did indeed put them there, it was not as a joke; it was six months ago, when they made a snowman in the middle of winter."

Yugi groaned. The 'six months' had been a dead give away – he couldn't believe that he hadn't got that one.

"No matter; you must cross a canyon that is a hundred feet deep and a hundred feet wide, without going to the bottom or going around. All you have is a twelve foot ladder and an endless supply of rope. How do you get across?"

Yugi smiled, relived; he already knew this one. "Fill the canyon with rope and walk."

Another bag fell.

"What starts with four legs, then has two, and lastly three?"

Yugi stiffened. What was that supposed to mean? "I don't know..." He saw the answer just as the words left his mouth, but it was too late.

"A shame, a shame. The answer was a man; he begins his life as an infant, crawling on four legs, then learns to walk upright on two, and finishes with using a cane; three."

Yugi almost punched himself for speaking too soon.

"Tall I am young, short I am old. While with life I do glow, human breath is my foe. What am I?"

"A candle." That one was easy.

The next bag fell. _I need three more, and I can afford one more wrong answer._

Yugi looked down at the Millennium Scales. They were much closer...but just not enough.

Two bags and one failure later, Yugi waited for the final question. It all came down to this.

"An assistant in a butcher's shop is six feet tall and wears size nine shoes. What does he weigh?"

This question seemed too simple; not easy, but simple. Yugi realised why a moment later when he realised that there wasn't enough information to draw a conclusion.

_Then it's a trick question, and those are always solved by thinking over the wording of the question..._

Six feet tall and wears size nine shoes, how much does he weigh...he stopped. Not 'how much does he weigh', but 'what does he weigh'.

"Meat. He's a butcher's assistant, so he weighs meat."

Lopez laughed dramatically, and cut the tenth rope. Another bag of sand fell, and the giant scales balanced.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Yugi reached down and grabbed the Scales, which were now easily within his grasp. He pulled them up; they were his now.

But something wasn't right. _That was too easy...that was way too easy. What does Slater think he's pulling?_

Yugi felt the shadows lift, and suddenly, he could hear his friends' voices.

"It's going away – it's over." It was Joey speaking.

"Did he win?" The next voice was Tristan's.

"He did! Look, see, he's got the Scales!" Téa waved from where she and the others were standing. "Way to go, Yugi!"

But Yugi wasn't paying attention – he was focused on Lopez, who was collapsing to the ground.

"Oh, god..." Yugi ran around the walkway until he was beside Slater's former mind slave. He propped him up. He was breathing, and there was a pulse, but there was absolutely no further sign of life. "Wake up!" he pleaded.

Lopez opened his eyes and looked at Yugi, and Yugi's heart clenched as he saw the utterly blank look on his face. He had lost his soul to the Shadow Realm.

"Damn you, Slater," he spat. "This man was helping you, and look at what you did to him."

_I will save him. I have to. This is my fault, and I'm going to fix it._

"Yugi – congratulations! Really, I must say, you've impressed me once again."

Yugi didn't need to see his face to know who was speaking. "What have you done, Slater?"

"Why, Yugi! I thought you'd be happier – you now have two Millennium Items, and you earned them fair and square."

Yugi turned to see where the voice was coming from, and gasped when he saw Slater's worn, scarred face upon the far wall. He looked at the opposite wall and saw two more of Slater's henchmen manning a projector.

"What do you think you're doing? Why don't you just face me instead of hiding?" Yugi demanded.

"Oh, come now, Yugi. Couldn't you just pretend to be excited? For once?"

"No – for all I know the Scales I just won are a fake!"

Slater smiled a wicked smile. "You know, Yugi. I had a feeling that you were going to say that...so I prepared my answer in advance. What do you think would be the most reliable way of telling whether a Millennium Item is the real deal or not?"

Yugi knew the answer, and Slater did too. "The Millennium Ring, of course! If I recall correctly, it can react when it senses another Millennium Item nearby. An awfully handy tool for someone trying to find them all, but since I know where they all are, I have no use for such a thing. How about I save your friends and yourself the trouble of going to some new and exciting location and just put the Ring up as prize in another Shadow Game, right now?"

Yugi jolted. Another game? Already? He was already mentally worn out from his last game, not to mention that it was the middle of the night.

"Well, what do you say, Yugi? My Ring against your Puzzle and Scales."

"Go for it, Yuug! You already beat this guy twice – third time's a charm!" Joey called.

Yugi set his jaw. He knew that he would have to face Slater again eventually no matter what he chose now. "Alright, Slater. Let's get this over with."

"Wonderful! Kindly put the items in the basket which is being lowered to you from my generous associates."

Yugi looked at the simple woven basket that came from one of the higher levels. "I'm not buying that – you'll just steal them."

"Why, Yugi, how could you be so judgemental? I have fifteen men in the building where you are, all of them armed. If I were going to steal them, I'd have done it already. Put them in the basket and if I lose the game you can have them back. I'll even return Lopez's soul to his body."

Yugi looked at the motionless form of Lopez; a human being that Slater would have called 'collateral damage'. He had been working for Slater, and Yugi had never met him, but a human being nonetheless. There was no question about it; Yugi placed the Scales in the basket, and, with a cold feeling of dread, he removed the Puzzle from around his neck and placed it in the basket. It didn't even occur to him until it was already pulled out of his reach that he should have disassembled it first. He groaned. He absolutely couldn't afford to lose now.

"Now, to begin!" Slater's face on the screen smiled. "So, would you like to join your friends on the floor above you to watch, or are you happy where you are?"

Yugi thought he had heard wrong. "...What?"

"I would imagine that you'd want to watch with them. Alright, men; let him reach the stairs."

Yugi barely even noticed that the two henchmen who had been blocking the stairs leading to the next floor stepped aside. He was too focused on the screen.

"Of course, you can't see much with the camera on me all the time; Jones, zoom out and rotate the camera! Do I have to think of everything?"

Yugi watched in horror as the camera zoomed out to show that wherever he was, Slater was standing in front of what appeared to be a giant grid. And standing on the other side of the grid was Ryou Bakura.

* * *

Please tell me you didn't see that coming! Pleasepleaseplease? O.o I thought it was pretty cool anyway :/

So...what did you think of my riddles? I think that last question was a bit of a let-down. Oh well :( The snowman and the Roman numerals were my favourite. I'm not actually sure how educated Japanese people are on Roman numerals, but I thought that riddle was too cool not to include. Meh :)

Erm...please don't think the nationality of my villain is due to xenophobia! I needed him to be from an English speaking country...he was originally going to be Australian, but I decided against that. We aussies are too stupid to be evil :D Lol – self pay out! XD

So...next chapter is coming out soon! I'm up to chapter twenty at the moment so chapter fifteen should be out within a couple of days, depending on whether I have internet or not. Or maybe I'll just leave you hanging for a month or so ;P Just so you know, the next game isn't chess...much as I love chess, it's a bit hard to write about :(

Anywoi, I'll see you later ;D Thanks again for reading this far! :)

~IA


	15. Meanwhile

Hey :D

Thanks again for reading :) Please review :D!

This chapter is basically 'meanwhile'. The game doesn't start until the next one :( but hopefully it's not too boring XD

Anyway, I'll get started

~IA

* * *

As soon at Amber started driving, Bakura regretted placing his and Mokuba's lives in her hands.

"Aw, damn it!" she exclaimed, narrowly missing another car. "I don't usually drive – hey, watch where you're going! Idiot...Where did you say we were going?"

"Um...I'll direct. Turn left at the next set of lights." Mokuba looked at Bakura. _We're going to die,_ his eyes said.

"Indicate!" Bakura exclaimed, as Amber sailed around the corner and almost collided with a pedestrian who hadn't realised that their car was going to turn.

Bakura clutched the door handle. _I think I'm about to throw up._

* * *

Amber skidded to a stop. "Here?"

Mokuba looked at the computer screen. "Uh...yeah, here. Can we get out now?"

Bakura and Mokuba got out dizzily. They had survived.

"So, they're in there?" Amber asked, looking at the building she had parked beside. It must have been at least twenty stories high.

"Hmmph?" Bakura stumbled drunkenly towards to door. "Yeah." He didn't expect it to be open at this time of the night, so it came as a shock when the automatic doors slid open when he approached.

"I should have brought all that 'I Love NY' stuff I bought – then I could have given it to everyone after they finished. Hey, are they at a night club or something? Is it upstairs? Should Mokuba wait in the car? Hey! Wait for me!" Amber followed them through the doors.

Bakura looked around. "It doesn't look like anyone's here."

"But the door opened and there's no alarm going off," Mokuba pointed out. "And the DuelDisk system shows that they're here." He looked at the laptop which he had brought with them and hit a few keys on the keypad. "On about the tenth floor."

"Something doesn't seem right," Bakura said uneasily. "I would have expected Slater to leave some kind of guard out the front, not leave the doors open for us to just walk in."

Mokuba nodded. "Maybe we should– hey, what are you doing?" He ran towards the elevator on the other side of the room, which Amber was already inside. "Tenth floor, did you say?" she asked.

Mokuba and Bakura stopped just outside the elevator. "Amber, we have no idea where we are; get out of that lift," Bakura said.

"But you guys said..." Amber trailed off, confused. They were so weird. "Look, if you guys want to wait down here, I'll go up by my sel–"

That was not happening. Mokuba and Bakura both entered the lift.

Stuck in the lift with Amber, Bakura had never been more grateful that the Thief King was no longer with him; Amber wouldn't have left the elevator with her soul intact.

The lift stopped at the tenth floor, and Amber tried to leave before she even saw what was on the other side of the doors. Bakura reached out and held her back.

The room that the lift opened up to was well lit, but seemingly void of anyone else. Bakura stuck his head out, half expecting to trigger some form of trap. "Hello?"

There was, at the centre of the room, what appeared to be a giant chequered grid, like a chess board, except that there were more spaces – he counted ten by ten. On each side of the grid was a pedestal with a short set of steps leading to the top.

"Wait here." He took a few tentative steps out of the elevator. Nothing happened. Feeling more confident, he walked out onto the grid. Each piece of the grid was a single tile, which wasn't too out of the ordinary. He looked around. There was still no sign of anyone else around. "I...I think it's safe to –"

The lift doors closed.

Bakura wouldn't have been worried if the lights above the doors hadn't showed that the lift was going up. He ran to the door and pressed the 'call' button, which began to glow. The lights above the doors, however, showed no indication of the lift returning. "Mokuba! Amber! What happened?" he shouted, hoping that they would be able to hear him from the lift shaft. He stuck his ear to the doors. Nothing.

Inside the elevator, Mokuba wouldn't be able to get a signal for the laptop, or Amber her phone. If something bad happened to them while they were in there, there would be no way of telling anyone.

Bakura tried to pry open the doors. He didn't know what good that would do, but with his mind in a panic, he didn't care. He knew by now that they had fallen into a trap; Yugi and the others weren't here, and now Mokuba was gone.

_What could Slater possibly want with me?_

After struggling with the lift for several minutes, he gave up on that idea and tried to find another way out. There were several other doors in the room, but when he tried the handles, they wouldn't open.

_So try to knock them down._ That was what his other self would have done. It wasn't the most appealing prospect; he didn't want to get charged with vandalism, but if he was trapped here...

He turned to face the lift again, and jumped, startled, when he realised that it was on the bottom floor. He stiffened. When had that happened? And why hadn't it stopped on his floor on the way down? The lift button was still glowing.

The number above the lift started changing. _G...1...2...3..._ Bakura waited tensely, hoping that Mokuba was on his way up again.

The lift doors slid open.

Bakura hadn't seen Slater before, but he knew the Millennium Eye when he saw it, and the man who stepped out of the lift was wearing it. Three armed men followed him out.

"Ah, I see I got here just in time!" Slater said. "Step aside, Ryou; I'm sure you'd like to see Yugi's little game as much as the next person – how do you expect up to be able to do so if we can't set up the cameras?"

Bakura watched, his heart pumping, as the three men who had followed Slater positioned a camera to face the grid, and set up a projector to face the far wall. A few seconds later, the wall lit up to show a giant patch of darkness. Above the darkness on some kind of balcony were Téa, Tristan and Joey.

"It's a shame; we've missed the start, or at least you have." Slater held up the Millennium Rod. "So now you see how it works. Now, next question; if half of one is one and half of ten is five, then what is half of twelve?"

Bakura didn't understand what Slater was talking about, but Slater simply smiled at Bakura. "We'll leave him to ponder that one for a while, shan't we, Ryou?"

"What are you doing?" Bakura said, his voice hardening. "Where are Mokuba and Amber? What's happening to Yugi?"

Slater sighed. "Honestly, nobody is ever nice to me. I can't imagine why...I suppose I might as well tell you the deal, then. Yugi is playing a Shadow Game with me, as you already know. Since my henchmen were so disorganised as to use a car without enough seats, I took the liberty of bringing you and Mokuba Kaiba around here to watch it with me – isn't that nice?"

Bakura crossed his arms, trying not to lose his head. "I don't think you did. You wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of meddling with KaibaCorp's DuelDisk system just to bring us here for that. And you wouldn't have trapped Mokuba in the lift. So why don't you just tell me what you're doing?"

Slater ignored this comment, and went on to explain the rules of Yugi's Shadow Game. "I'm sure that with a mind like his, Yugi will be able to figure out the riddles with no problem at all."

"Then why bother?"

"Ah, this is the really ingenious part; I'll be able to win back the Scales – and the Puzzle too – as soon as he's finished, because I'll start another Shadow Game against a somewhat less confident gamer."

Bakura had a bad feeling that he knew who this 'less confident gamer' would be.

Slater looked as though he were about to say more but then he laughed happily. "Look at that – Yugi got the answer right! Alright, Lopez; cut the next rope. Next question, Yugi; I have a bank but cannot store money, I have a mouth but cannot eat, I can run but have no legs; what am I?" Slater turned his attention back to Bakura. "I'm sorry, Ryou; it is so confusing having a conversation in real life and another in my head. I suppose you never got a chance to get used to that, since your friend Bakura never directly spoke to you."

Bakura gulped. He knew that Slater could read his mind with the Millennium Eye, but it still threw him off balance that a man he had never met knew absolutely everything about him. "You were saying?"

"Ah, yes! What say you, Ryou Bakura, to a little game with me, after Yugi has finished his?"

Bakura wouldn't have trusted Slater even if Yugi hadn't told him about him. "No."

"Oh, why ever not? You're not afraid to lose, surely?"

"No, I just don't trust you to make it possible for me to win; Yugi found your loophole last time, I don't think you'd be foolish enough to leave one for me."

Slater sighed. "That really is a shame, Ryou. Alright, then; I'll just let Yugi win the third item himself then – ah, speaking of whom, Yugi just got another question right! Cut another bag, Lopez – as I was saying, a tremendous shame! And I was being so nice as to let you win back your own item yourself, too."

Bakura felt his body grow cold. He knew exactly what Slater was talking about.

He could have sworn that the world was in slow motion as Slater reached inside his jacket and pulled out the Millennium Ring.

For a moment, Bakura was transfixed. He stared at his Ring, unblinking. He could have forgotten to breathe and would never have noticed. It took several seconds for him to tear his eyes away and look back at Slater. "If I beat you in a Shadow Game, you'll give back the Millennium Ring?"

"But of course, Ryou! I am a man of my word, whatever else I may be."

"But if I lose, you'll get to keep the Ring, the Scales and the Puzzle?"

Slater smiled wickedly. "But of course, Ryou. I am a man of my word, whatever else I may be."

Bakura doubted that, but he was reconsidering Slater's words. He had promised to help Yugi get back the Millennium Items, and he had sworn to himself not to let Slater use the Millennium Ring for evil. He didn't even need to think about Slater's offer. "I'll do it."

"Wonderful! I was hoping you'd say that."

Bakura knew that Slater didn't expect him to win, but he would have been less nervous if Slater smugly stated that. His innocent, uncaring manner was enough to unnerve him.

They waited in silence for the next half hour but for Slater's occasional remark on Yugi's progress, and the questions that Yugi was being asked. Bakura felt himself start to panic as each question was asked; most of them he couldn't have solved to save his life, but Yugi always came through with the answer...at least, most of the time. The image from the projector just showed the darkness of the Shadow Realm surrounding Yugi and Lopez; he couldn't imagine the tension that Téa, Tristan and Joey would be feeling to have to watch with absolutely no clue as to what was going on.

"Ah, what a shame," Slater said finally. "I was rather enjoying my little game with Yugi; it's over now, of course. Who do you think won, Ryou?"

Bakura was watching the projector image. The shadows were clearing to show Yugi standing on his side holding the Millennium Scales. Bakura stiffened. He knew that Yugi's victory was a good thing, but...now it was his turn.

"Okay, men; turn the cameras on me and send the video to Yugi's premises...good. Yugi – congratulations! Really, I must say, you've impressed me once again."

Bakura had to hand it to Slater for how easily he strung Yugi along. For a moment, even Bakura thought that Slater was planning to face Yugi.

"Bakura!" Yugi exclaimed when the camera zoomed out to allow Yugi a view of the rest of the room. "What are you doing?"

Bakura looked at the camera. "I have to get the Ring back, Yugi."

"Oh, no. Don't you dare; it's too dangerous! Slater set me up to win because he's not planning to give you a chance – you can't play a Shadow Game against him! You'll lose your soul."

Bakura tried not to let his fear show. "I said I would help you, and I will. Don't worry, Yugi; I know a thing or two about games. Slater's not going to get the better of me."

Yugi's eyes widened. "Bakura, you haven't played against Slater before; you don't know what he's like! He won't make it possible for you to win!"

"Like he did for you?"

Yugi didn't answer for a moment. "Bakura, you just...you can't do this!"

"I can win, Yugi! The Millennium Ring is mine and I'm going to get it back."

"There's more than the Ring at stake here, Bakura! The Puzzle, the Scales, Lopez's soul – not to mention yours and whoever Slater uses to take his place in your Shadow Game! Please...I don't want to lose another friend."

For a moment, Bakura hesitated, touched by Yugi's words. He knew that Yugi was still torn up inside after Atem's leaving. _It's worse than it is with me; I hated my other self and I still feel empty without him. The Pharaoh was Yugi's best friend._ He tried not to show his anguish as he hardened his voice. _I'm sorry, Yugi._ "Then I'll just have to win. Or do you think I can't do it? Is that it?"

Yugi looked shocked and a little hurt. "No! That's not what I meant..."

"Then let me do this." Bakura turned away from the camera. "Okay, Slater. What are the rules and who am I playing?" His gaze shifted to the three men who were with Slater.

"Ah, yes! I almost forgot – they should be arriving soon." He looked at the elevator lights, and Bakura saw that the lift was coming up again.

_They? There's more than one?_

The lift doors slid open to reveal the emotionless faces of Mokuba and Amber.

Bakura's jaw dropped and he stared at Slater. "You wouldn't...!"

Bakura heard Yugi speak. "What? Who is it? I can't see on the camera..."

Bakura didn't answer him. "This is too low! You're trying to make me forfeit so you won't hurt them!"

Slater smiled. "Yes. Is it working?"

Bakura tore his eyes from Slater's newest mind slaves to look at the Millennium Ring, and then at the screen, and the two Millennium Items hanging in a basket above Yugi's head. He saw the motionless form of Yugi's opponent, Lopez; a man who had been helping Slater, but who was now trapped in the Shadow Realm. Bakura felt himself chill as he remembered the Shadow Realm from when he had been sent there in the Battle City semi-finals. No man deserved to be there, not even Slater's henchman.

He looked back at Mokuba and Amber. If he won, he would be sending their souls to the Shadow Realm.

_This was his plan all along!_ he realised. _He was luring me here with Mokuba and Amber not so that he could beat me but so that I would forfeit in order to save them! And we fell right into his trap._

Mokuba and Amber left the lift and went to stand opposite Bakura on the grid. Yugi and the others gasped when they appeared on the camera.

"I'm still waiting, Ryou!" Slater complained. "Do you still accept my challenge? If you say no, it will be treated as a loss and both of Yugi's Millennium Items will be mine, not to mention Lopez will be left without a soul."

Bakura turned to the three henchmen Slater had brought with him. "This is the man you're working for!" he exclaimed. "Look what he did to your friend Lopez – he can do it to you, just as easy!"

The three men ignored Bakura. He gulped. If he accepted the challenge, he might be able to find a way to draw, like Yugi had, and save Mokuba and Amber, but Slater would still have the Ring. And if he lost...he would save Mokuba and Amber, but he would also lose his own soul too, and Slater would have all seven Millennium Items as his disposal. _Whatever the cost, that must not happen._ He would just have to make sure it didn't. "Okay, Slater; I'm still in. I'm going to save Amber and Mokuba, get the Ring, keep the Puzzle and Scales, _and_ rescue Lopez. Bring it on."

Slater smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that. Let the game begin!"

* * *

Dun-dun-duuuuuuuuun XD

By the way; can anyone help me think of a name for chapter ten? It's kind of embarassing...XD

Oh yeah! Please check out my other story here: .net/s/6957495/1/ I need some advice on it~!


	16. Round Three: The Millennium Ring

Sorry to keep bothering you guys with my ANs but... D:

Just so you know: I use the words 'flipped' and 'destroyed' interchangeably in this chapter, since to flip a tile is to remove it from play, and to remove a tile from play is effectively to destroy it. Just clearing up any potential confusion there :D

This chapter gets a little complicated, but you should be able to get the overall vibe of what's going on. If there's any trouble, I can put a short chapter summary at the bottom :)

I made this game up...that's why it's totally lame XD It get's a little better than is explained in the second paragraph though, so please bear with me :D Again; any trouble, and I can put a summary of the game's rules at the end of the chapter.

Other than that, here's the chapter~!

~IA

* * *

"The rules of this game are relatively simple." As the Shadow Realm enveloped them, Slater went to stand behind Mokuba and Amber, the Millennium Rod in one hand, the Ring in the other. Of the other three that were in his possession, Bakura could only see the Eye, but he had no doubt that the Key and the Necklace were somewhere on Slater's person.

"Each player will stand on the pedestal on their side of the grid. If you would all be so kind?" The question appeared to be directed at all three players, but he was only speaking to Bakura, who took his place atop his side's pedestal. His two opponents went to take their place on theirs.

"Bakura!" Bakura turned to face the wall where he saw that Yugi had joined Téa, Tristan and Joey on their balcony. "Bakura, listen; maybe Slater's using Mokuba and Amber to make you lose is the key to defeating him."

"Yeah!" It was Joey speaking. "In Battle City, when Marik brainwashed me, Yugi was able to break through to me. You might be able to break through to Mokuba and Amber."

Bakura looked doubtful. It hadn't been a Shadow Game when Yugi had faced Joey, and Bakura didn't know either of his opponents as well as Yugi had Joey. And even then, what good would breaking through to his opponents do now? But...it was worth a try.

"Ahem!" Bakura turned his attention back to Slater, who had spoken. "As I was saying; since there are two players on one side, this side's turn will alternate between those two. Ryou, Mokuba, Ryou, Amber, Ryou, Mokuba, and so on.

"Each tile on the board will belong to one of the players; since this is two against one, you, Ryou, will have fifty tiles and each of your opponents will have twenty-five.

"At the beginning of the game, you do not know which tiles are yours and which spaces are your opponents'. You will take turns to select a tile. Whichever tile you select will be flipped and removed from the game. At the end of the game, whoever is first to run out of tiles will lose instantly. Once one player has lost all their tiles, whoever owns the most of the remaining tiles will be declared the winner, and the remaining player will come second. I'm sure you know what this means; at least one of your friends will be alright, no matter who wins or loses.

_He's trying to make me choose?_ Bakura wondered. _That's just sick!_

"Then it's a game of chance?" Bakura asked, suspiciously.

"Oh, I don't know about that...anyway, why don't you start us off, Ryou?"

Keeping his eyes fixed on Slater, Bakura pointed to a tile towards the middle of the grid. "That one."

He almost jumped when the tile flipped over to reveal a pale green side. He hesitated. "So...whose tile was it?"

Slater shrugged. "Damned if I know; I've never played this game before. Mokuba, why don't you try out your luck with the next tile?"

Bakura felt himself get hot with anger as Slater 'addressed' Mokuba; he was just toying with him, since Mokuba couldn't hear him. Mokuba pointed to another tile, and it flipped over to show a pale red side.

Bakura knew that it was Slater who was picking the tiles for both Mokuba and Amber; he wondered if he had set up the board in advance and already knew whose tiles went where.

Biting his lip, Bakura pointed to the next tile. This one flipped over to show a blue side, before letting out a loud bang and turning black.

"Ahhh!" Slater clapped his hands with mock-satisfaction. "Now I understand what those instructions were talking about; if you destroy your own tile, it does what you have just seen. It looks as though your colour is blue, Mokuba's is green and Amber's is red. I really am terribly sorry for all of this; you'll have to forgive me for explaining the rules as we go."

Bakura glared at him but said nothing, his mind working.

He didn't like the idea of a luck game, and he knew that Slater wouldn't be risking the Millennium Ring on one either. There would another twist to this game explained to him later.

He still didn't know what he was going to do; even if he _could_ ascertain his victory, he couldn't really do it, could he? He looked across at his opponents. He didn't know either of them particularly well at all. Mokuba was Kaiba's brother, Amber was Téa's room mate.

Bakura looked at Mokuba. He had done so much to help them; betrayed his brother, stolen his company's plane, and flown all the way from Domino to New York based on nothing more than what Yugi had told him. Mokuba had placed complete faith in Yugi and his friends to get back the items. And now he was brainwashed and being forced to play a Shadow Game for Slater.

Bakura's eyes turned to Amber. He had only met her in person that afternoon, she wasn't his friend, she had nearly killed him on the road, and she was a very annoying person to be around...but she had nothing to do with any of this; she was a girl in her late teens who was aspiring to be a dancer. She spent her weekends hanging out with friends and she shared an apartment with Téa. She didn't deserve to go to the Shadow Realm.

_And what about me?_ Bakura didn't want to face it, but he did. He had spent years of his childhood being hidden away and suppressed. All of his childhood friends had been put in comas because he couldn't control his other half. Yugi and his friends had nearly followed them. He couldn't even list the things that the other Bakura had done. _I could have stopped him, if I had been stronger._ He felt himself sweating.

His gaze crept upon the Millennium Ring, still held by Slater. It had been given to him by his father when he came back from a trip to Egypt. He had taken care of it his whole life. The idea of someone like Slater having it filled him with dread; even without the theif king, it was dangerous, and it being possessed by someone like Slater could lead to disaster.

The only reason Slater hadn't already used the Millennium Items' powers was because he wanted to have all seven before he did so. Ishizu had given them a chance when she disassembled the Millennium Puzzle. If Bakura lost now, her sacrifice would have been in vain and Slater would have all seven Millennium Items.

But if he won, he would send either Mokuba or Amber to the Shadow Realm.

"Well then, how about Amber has a shot at victory?" Slater said. "Which tile will you pick, my dear?"

Amber pointed at a tile.

"Why, what a pretty tile! I do so like that tile. I could have sworn that I picked it myself – why don't we see what it is?"

Bakura was getting worked up by Slater's attitude, and he knew that that was what he wanted. He tried to ignore it.

The tile that flipped over was blue – Bakura's. Bakura gulped, preparing to choose his next tile, before he realised that something was happening. Above the tile there appeared a mirror.

In the original game, it must have been a simple hologram, but here in the Shadow Realm, it was real. The circular mirror floated towards Amber and Mokuba's side of the grid and stopped in Amber's corner.

Slater clapped his hands. "Now I remember! You see, if two or more of the same tiles are destroyed in a row, the person who destroyed the last tile is given a token at random. Each token in the game has its own unique ability and can be used by its owner at any time in the game. The more turns that occur in a row, the more tokens you will be awarded. Now, I think I'll save Amber's Mirror Token for a later turn – why don't you see if you can flip another of your own tiles and win two tokens for yourself?"

_So there is another aspect to this game._ Bakura felt more confident as he learned more about the game, but he was still unsettled. What would he do? Win or lose?

The tile that Bakura eventually flipped was also blue, and after it had turned black to show that its owner had chosen it, another pair of tokens appeared and came over to Bakura's side.

The first was a spyglass, the second a bottle containing blue liquid. Bakura looked at Slater.

"Ah, let's see...the Spyglass Token allows you to take a sneak peak at any tile on the grid without having to choose it officially or let your opponents see it. The Blue Potion Token will allow you to bring back three tiles that have already been flipped. On that note, a Red Potion will bring back five and a Green Potion will bring back seven."

Bakura looked down at his two tokens. He would have to save them for later – he still didn't know what he was trying to do.

* * *

Slater was having a great deal of fun tormenting Bakura.

He could read his mind with the Millennium Eye, and it was exactly as he had predicted it would be; torn between saving Mokuba and Amber, and saving the Millennium Items.

Slater knew exactly how the game was going to pan out – after all, he had the Millennium Necklace. Fighting his inner turmoil, Bakura would continue to stash his tokens until everyone was down to their last few tiles. Then, unable to bear the thought of having a soul sent to the Shadow Realm on his behalf, he would deliberately lose the game in order to protect the others.

Slater smiled to himself. The fool – once he had all Seven Millennium Items at his disposal, they would be better off in the Shadow Realm.

Slater could tell that Bakura's reluctance to win wasn't just from his own desire not to hurt Mokuba or Amber; he was influenced by his inner guilt. Whether he had admitted it to himself or not, he blamed himself for everything that his other half had done. He was tearing himself up inside. _The guy hates himself. Hah!_ How was hating oneself even possible? It was a concept that Slater would never understand.

Whatever the case, Slater knew that Bakura was simply incapable of choosing his own life above theirs, and would practically hand over the Millennium Items gift-wrapped.

Even though he had known that the Necklace would be right, it hadn't ceased to amaze him as it played out before his eyes. Yugi had never even suspected that it wasn't him being lured to New York, but Bakura.

* * *

"That one there."

The tile that flipped was one of Amber's, winning Bakura a token. The one that appeared was another Mirror Token.

So far, he knew the abilities of five of the tokens; Mirror Tokens destroyed at random one tile of the same colour as the last tile flipped. Potion Tokens restored lost tiles, like extra lives. Spyglass Tokens allowed one player to see the colour of one tile. Flip Tokens, which looked like a block of wood flipping from side to side, allowed every player to see the colour of one tile, like a public version of the Spyglass, and Shuffle Tokens shuffled the remaining tiles, rendering all Spyglass and Flip Tokens played previously, useless.

So far, he had assembled one of each of these. Amber still had her Mirror Token as well as a Flip, and Mokuba had a Red Potion and another token that depicted two stones.

And Bakura still had no idea what to do.

If he was reasonable, he would admit that he needed to win; there was too much at stake. But he couldn't trade Mokuba or Amber's soul for the Millennium Ring! It was just too horrible.

But maybe...if he won, he could somehow get the loser's soul back later; he was, after all, playing to win back Lopez's soul. He cast a glance at Slater; that wasn't something he could count on.

Mokuba picked a blue tile, and Bakura chose a red. Amber picked green, and then Bakura also chose green. A new token appeared; this one looked like a sniper rifle.

"Sniper Token," Slater said before Bakura could ask. "It lets you destroy one tile of any colour you want."

Bakura saved it for later. He looked across the board. At least half of the tiles were now red, green, blue or black. He estimated that he had about twenty tiles left, and his opponents had about fifteen each. He had to figure something out, and fast.

"Mokuba," he pleaded in another attempt to break through to Kaiba's brother. "Please; you can't do this. You came here to help us, even though your brother told you not to! You ran away and stole his plane just to get us here – you went through so much; you can't just let Slater use you as his puppet. I know you're stronger than that!" Bakura knew that he was blabbering, but he pushed on. "Your brother always treats you coldly now – I know he does, I saw it. But you still care about him; you stay loyal to him no matter what he says to you, or what he does. You put up with everything he does and never let it get you down. It takes a certain kind of person to do that – a person who wouldn't give into Slater so easily!"

As he spoke about Kaiba, Bakura thought he saw a flicker of realisation cross Mokuba's face; a shadow of emotion that Bakura could easily have imagined. But he hadn't; he was certain.

And then suddenly Slater spoke and the moment passed. "You're wasting your time, Ryou; Mokuba Kaiba can't hear you. He only listens so me now."

As if in answer, Mokuba pointed at another tile. It flipped to show a green side. That gave Mokuba another two tokens.

The ones he received were a shield and another of the two stones. Biting his lip, Bakura kept playing.

* * *

Slater had been making Amber use every potion she received; she still had at least ten tiles on the grid. Bakura and Mokuba were both down to their last few.

As well as that, everyone's corner was loaded with unused tokens; Amber had two mirrors, a flip and a sniper; Mokuba had a green potion, a red, two of the two stones which Bakura now knew were called Double Shot Tokens, allowing their user to pick two tiles on their turn instead of one, a Sniper, a Spyglass, and a Shield Token, which stopped a tile from being destroyed after it was picked. And after using his potion a few turns ago, Bakura had a Shuffle, a Mirror, a Spyglass, a Flip, two Snipers and a Double Shot.

Bakura's heart was racing. He still couldn't answer that one simple question; _what am I going to do?_

Everyone had hoarded their tokens, but he could tell that things were about to start heating up. He picked another tile.

It was red; Amber's.

And now it was Amber's turn.

Slater sighed. "I suppose it's time to spice things up a bit and start using our tokens. So let's see..."

Amber's Sniper Token moved to the front of the pedestal where she and Mokuba stood. The rifle pointed at a tile and fired.

Bakura wasn't surprised to see that the tile it destroyed was one of his own. He didn't know how many he had left, but it didn't look promising for him.

Next, Amber used her two Mirror Tokens, destroying another two of Bakura's tiles. He almost flinched; he couldn't have more than two or three left now.

Finally, Amber finished her onslaught with her turn's random choice. She pointed at another tile, and it flipped.

Green. Bakura looked across at Mokuba; he was quite sure that the boy had even less tiles left than he did.

Bakura was well and truly panicking now. If he started using his tokens now, there was a good chance that he could still win; He could use his mirror tile to destroy another of Mokuba's tiles, and then his two Snipers. If there were another green tile left after that, he may be able to find it with his Flip and Spyglass tokens and destroy it with his official move.

Then the match would be his; he would win, Amber would be freed, Lopez would get his soul back and Slater would have only four Millennium Items.

But could he really trade the soul of a fourteen-year-old boy for that? He looked across at Mokuba. Could he?

He tried to stall for more time and simply chose a tile at random. It was another of Amber's red tiles.

Mokuba straightened up. The Spyglass Token lifted up and stopped in front of his eye, showing him the identity of one tile. He raised his hand as if he were about to move, and then stopped. There was a moment for which he was completely still, and then his hand started shaking in mid-air. After another second, He pointed to a tile, and it flipped to show a red. His hand lowered, and he ended his turn.

Bakura looked from Mokuba to Slater. What had that been? Slater had a bead of sweat on his brow, but he otherwise made no suggestion that anything was amiss. Bakura looked back at Mokuba. Could it be that Mokuba was starting to break through?

* * *

Slater's mind was in turmoil.

He had seen the location of the last blue tile through Mokuba's Spyglass, but when instructed to destroy it, the boy had refused.

He could feel his control of the younger Kaiba brother slipping; Mokuba had already decided not to let Bakura lose. Using the Millennium Eye, he knew that Mokuba was starting to think clearly again. Bakura's mention of Seto Kaiba had triggered something in the mind puppet's head; Mokuba's sheer determination to rescue his brother from himself. He had his sole mission, and it was enough to fight off the power of the Millennium Rod.

But not enough to fight off Slater. The mental onslaught with which he attacked Mokuba was enough to drive the boy from his mind once more. There would be no more rebellion; he would see to that.

* * *

_Just do it! Do it and win!_

The voice was familiar to Bakura. It was his other self.

Of course, his other self was gone now; banished to the Shadow Realm, but the voice that Bakura found himself thinking in was his nonetheless.

That was exactly what he would say; win at all costs, because that was what he needed to do. He could have sworn that he was still harbouring his soul and it was him playing this game. Telling him to win. His memory was enough to make it, at that moment, real.

And at that moment, Bakura made his decision. _Get out of my head! I'm not going to sacrifice Mokuba, or Amber, or anyone! I'm not like you! I'm _not like you_!_

Bakura stood up taller on his pedestal. "Okay, Slater. I'm going to use my Snipers to destroy two blue tiles. If there are any left I'll use my Mirror."

Slater laughed wickedly. "I'm afraid you don't have to, Ryou! You only have one tile left! But go ahead, Sniper Token; take out his last tile."

The gun pointed. Bakura closed his eyes. It fired.

For several seconds there was nothing, and Bakura dared to open his eyes.

The tile at which the Sniper had pointed was still unflipped. For a moment, he was confused, and then he realised.

Mokuba's shield tile was missing.

Slater's words rang through his head. _Each token in the game has its own unique ability and can be used by its owner at any time in the game. _

At any time in the game...

Mokuba had used his shield to protect the tile from Bakura's Sniper!

"...Mokuba?"

"I'm sorry, Bakura; I can't let you lose."

Mokuba was speaking, his eyes brimming with fiery anger. He turned to Slater. "You can't control me; I have something I need to do..."

He took a deep breath. "I'm going to use my potions to restore twelve of the blue tiles."

Bakura watched in horror as twelve of his tiles flipped over again. He now had even more tiles than Amber. "Mokuba, stop –"

"And now I'll use my Sniper to destroy a green tile."

Desperate, Bakura looked at his tokens for something he could use. There was nothing; no potions and no shield.

There was a bang, and Bakura looked up again.

Every tile on the board reset to the original chequered grid. The tokens disappeared.

And the Shadow Realm stared to lift as the game drew to a close, with one player having lost all of their tiles. And the one player was Mokuba.


	17. Aftermath

Chapter seventeen :D

Sorry for the delay in getting this up - I'm having problems with my Document Manager D:

This chapter is by far the shortest that I've uploaded so far :( I'M SORRRRRY ;_; To make it up to you, I'll be putting up the next chapter within a few days :D Unless I die. I really hope that doesn't happen.

~IA

* * *

Yugi and his friends had been watching the Shadow Game unfold through the camera, powerless to help. Slater's men had long since cut the two way connection, making it impossible for Bakura to hear or see them.

They could only watch in stunned horror as Mokuba's body fell limply off the pedestal. He stared blankly ahead, as did any body without a soul.

Bakura sprinted over the grid to the boy's motionless body. "Mokuba! Mokuba, wake up!"

"He can't hear you."

Bakura turned to Slater. Looking at his friend, Yugi could have sworn that the theif king had returned and that Ryou Bakura was gone.

"You knew this would happen! You have the Millennium Necklace – you must have seen it!"

Slater stood up. "I'll be going now."

"Wait! Stop!" Bakura made to run after Slater, only to be barred by his two henchmen. They pushed him backward and he stumbled to the floor.

"Keep your Ring, Ryou!" he added, tossing the Millennium Ring at Bakura. It landed on his stomach, and he simply stared at it, too shocked to speak.

Slater turned to the camera. "I'll be seeing you again, Yugi. How about we say...at Stonehenge."

"Stonehenge?" Yugi wondered aloud.

"Alright then, everyone move out. Bring Lopez; I have a feeling he won't be too pleased to see us when he wakes up, but it's for his own good." He made to go, and then turned back to the camera. "As I promised, Yugi, you can keep the Scales and the Puzzle...for now."

And within a minute, he was gone.

Back in Yugi's building, he, Téa, Tristan and Joey heard the sounds as Slater's remaining henchmen left the premises, presumably to rendezvous elsewhere. They could only watch helplessly.

"I'm sorry, Yugi."

Yugi jumped and looked at the screen, which had been left on. Bakura wasn't facing the camera; his head was hung low and his long white hair was obscuring his face. Yugi felt his heart clench as he saw the complete and utter hopelessness with showed in his friend's every move. Bakura stood up. "I guess I'll see you guys later."

* * *

Bakura was determined not to cry. But looking at Mokuba's soulless body, there was little more that he could do.

He would never forgive himself; he had agreed to the Shadow Game, claiming that he could somehow win it without harming Mokuba or Amber. And he had failed.

And it had cost Mokuba his soul.

_You failed. You thought you could be like Yugi and have it both ways, but you failed. _He tormented himself, knowing that he deserved it. How could he go back to the others now?

He was still on the floor. The Millennium Ring was still on his stomach. He stared at it, despising what it stood for. He had traded Mokuba's soul for it – it really was cursed.

For a while he just closed his eyes and lay there, unmoving. He hated himself.

"Hey, what the hell happened here?"

Bakura forced one eye open and looked up to see Amber standing over him, her eyes puzzled. "Man, did you get wasted? This doesn't look like a party...wait, did I get wasted? I would swear, the _strangest_ things were happening around here just now. Totally crazy." She paused. "Anyway, looks like it's over now, and I am _smashed._ I'm going home. You coming or what?"

Bakura sat up slowly. The Millennium Ring slid onto the floor.

"Wow! That's pretty – can I touch it?"

"No!" Bakura said instantly, grabbing the Ring. "Um...no, I think it would be better if I hung onto it for now."

He tentatively hung it around his neck. It had never felt so heavy.

* * *

Yugi and the others caught a taxi back to Téa and Amber's apartment. None of them spoke the whole way. Nobody could think of what to say. After a few vain attempts at conversation, even their driver didn't say a word.

The four of them entered the apartment and sat around the table, still wordless. Yugi suddenly realised that this was the first time that the four of them had been alone together since Téa had left for New York a year ago. He stared at the floor. This hadn't been how he had planned it.

He now had the Millennium Puzzle and the Scales, and Bakura had the Ring.

Bakura. Yugi couldn't imagine how he must be feeling now after what had happened. Yugi knew that it wasn't his fault, but it wouldn't be something that he would get over in a hurry.

"If I know Amber, she'll bring Bakura and...Mokuba...back here, as soon as possible," Téa said after a while. "They shouldn't take too long."

"Should we tell her what happened?" Yugi asked.

Téa shook her head. "She'll think she got drunk and blame what she remembers on alcohol. If we tell her the truth, she'll feel horrible about it. It's better that we just let her guess at what happened herself."

They all nodded their assent and then lapsed once again into silence.

They waited for at least half an hour before they finally heard the door unlock. They all looked up and saw Amber walk through the door with Bakura following behind. He was guiding Mokuba, who just stepped silently behind them. Bakura's eyes were fixed on the floor.

"Jesus, I am _so _giving up parties," Amber moaned, stumbling past everyone and into her room. After a few seconds, they heard her collapse onto her bed.

Nobody spoke at first. Bakura sat down at the table.

Yugi noticed that he was wearing the Millennium Ring. It hung limply around his neck.

"Bakura, it wasn't your fault," he said quietly.

Bakura sighed. "Please...not right now."

Yugi bit his lip. "Well...okay."

* * *

Yeah...Stonehenge. Deal wiv it :D There's no great significance there; I just like Stonehenge :)

Like I said; short chapter. The next one coming out soon :D

Please review :D See you next time!

~IA


	18. Assistance From Kaiba

When Seto Kaiba landed, he found that the jet Mokuba had stolen was already there. He had used the landing strip in the soon-to-be KaibaLand theme park, and it was evident that his brother had too.

"Where is Mokuba?" he demanded of the on-site KaibaCorp staff as soon as he was out of the jet.

After several uncomfortable glances were exchanged, they informed him that Mokuba Kaiba had landed in the park ten hours beforehand with four others, saying that they had been sent there by Seto himself on business matters.

Frustrated at their gullibility, Kaiba instead accessed the DuelDisk system.

The DuelDisks he was tracking showed to be in an apartment somewhere in the middle of the city. Kaiba had barely been on the ground fifteen minutes when he set off towards the location.

As he waited in the back of one of the KaibaCorp limos, he started considering his options. He was primarily coming to find Mokuba, but he did know for a fact that Yugi had his DuelDisk with him, and there would be no point in having that without his deck. This would be an opportunity for a rematch...

He decided to consider that option later; finding Mokuba came first. Whether he challenged Yugi to a rematch or not depended on circumstances. He already had enough work to do without dealing with the aftermath of such a duel; whether he won or lost, the media would jump on it in a flash.

The entire drive passed in silence. He preferred it that way; he didn't enjoy engaging in trivial conversation with anyone, least of all his driver. When they arrived at the apartment building, he stepped out giving the driver instructions to wait.

After the lift dropped him off at the appropriate floor, Kaiba made his way to the door that the DuelDisks were behind, checking the time. It was four o'clock in the morning. Not exactly the best time to make a house call, but after being dragged halfway across the globe, Kaiba didn't care. He banged on the door firmly.

He heard a commotion on the other side. Listening carefully, he made out the sounds of several people getting to their feet and exchanging whispers.

The whispering went on for a minute before Kaiba hit the door again. "Open this door right now."

The whispering stopped.

For a second, Kaiba would have sworn that every person on the other side of the door had suddenly disappeared. There was total silence.

And then, after another minute, a few tentative footsteps preceded the opening of the door.

In front of him were Yugi, Téa, Tristan, Joey and Bakura. Notably, Mokuba was not among them.

"I don't have time to talk to you dweebs," he said abruptly. "Where's my brother?"

The five of them exchanged several glances. Nobody dared to look him in the eye. Nobody dared to look at him at all.

Finally, Yugi spoke. "Mokuba's...I think you'd better see for yourself."

Looking at him suspiciously, Kaiba brushed past them and entered the apartment. There were two doors on the wall opposite him, and another on the wall over to the left. He was standing in a living room and adjoining kitchen, with a single table and chairs pushed into a corner. There were five blankets and pillows on the floor.

They were empty, and had obviously been where Yugi and his friends were sleeping. Kaiba turned again to face them, and Téa pointed a shaking finger at one of the opposite doors.

Without saying a word, Kaiba opened the door she had indicated and opened it.

The room had a small desk in one corner and the walls were covered with an assortment of posters. But Kaiba's attention instantly fell on the bed, where he saw his brother lying.

Mokuba looked to be sleeping; the steady rise and fall of his chest showed that he wasn't dead, but Seto had never seen anyone sleep so soundly.

Without thinking, he rushed to his brother's side. "Mokuba! Mokuba, wake up!" he exclaimed, shaking his brother gently. He didn't stir.

He stared at Mokuba for a full minute before he finally turned around again.

Yugi and his friends were clustered around the door, everyone wearing anxious expressions.

Seto straightened up. "What did you do to him?"

It was Bakura who spoke. "I-"

"_We_ didn't do anything," Joey interjected. "It was Slater. He kidnapped Mokuba and forced him to play a Shadow Game."

Bakura tried to speak again, but this time Yugi cut him off. "He sacrificed his soul so that Slater would lose."

Seto's eyes fell on Mokuba again. Yugi and his friends still told themselves that their Shadow Games were real. He was the only one with any sense left.

But looking at Mokuba...it was hard to see a soul in such a lifeless body.

"I don't believe in any of your Shadow Realm nonsense," he said, meeting Yugi square in the eyes. "My brother is in a coma, just admit it."

"Why are you being so stubborn, Kaiba?" Joey exclaimed. "You know as well as we do that the Shadow Games are for real! We-"

Tristan had to physically hold him back before he got too worked up. Yugi looked straight back at Seto. "Kaiba, think what you want. Slater is still expecting us to be at Stonehenge for our next meeting."

Seto looked at Mokuba again. He ignored Yugi's comment. "You're telling me that this 'Slater' is the one who did this to Mokuba?"

He heard the others cut Bakura off a third time. "Yes." It was Yugi who spoke.

Seto turned again to face them. "Then I'm going to find him. You dweebs can get your stuff and come along if it's so important to you."

And without sparing anyone else so much as a glance, he gathered up the unconscious Mokuba and made for the door, leaving them gaping in his wake.

* * *

Seto wasn't doing this out of kindness to Yugi's friends. He had his own reasons.

First, he knew that Slater didn't want him involved.

He ran over his encounter with Dempsey on his flight over. _I'll see you in New York._ It had been an obvious threat. He had little doubt that whoever Slater and Dempsey were, they were somehow connected. Dempsey had _not_ wanted Kaiba to go to New York, and now the he arrived, he had found out that Slater had done...something...to his brother.

He hadn't met Dempsey after arriving. For all he knew, it had been a blind threat. Or maybe there was something yet to come. Whatever it was, if Dempsey was working for Slater, then Slater hadn't wanted Seto coming. And that made him suspicious.

Second, Mokuba.

Whatever wrongs Mokuba had done in disobeying him, stealing one of KaibaCorp's jets and running away to America on nothing more than the word of Yugi's friends, he was still lying comatose in Seto's arms. Seto couldn't blame that on Mokuba; he couldn't even blame it on Yugi's friends. He didn't care what had happened; all he knew was that Slater was to blame. And for that...he would pay.

After he had seated Mokuba in the limo, he turned to see Yugi and his friends leave the building behind him, carrying their baggage. Wordlessly, he gestured to the back. They loaded themselves into the vehicle.

He watched them as they got in, but didn't speak. He sat further up the vehicle to avoid being near them.

He told the driver to take them back to KaibaLand, and then sat back, still thinking.

Mokuba was sitting in front on him, strapped in but still completely motionless but for his breathing. Seto found himself staring at him.

All the way over, he had been planning how his next meeting with Mokuba would pan out. He had prepared what he would have said, what he would have done. He had come to take him back to Japan. That was all.

Mokuba had wanted him to come. Seto didn't know why, but he had. He had wanted him to meet with Yugi again.

Even he, Seto Kaiba, found this puzzling. Why would Mokuba want something like that? It didn't make any sense.

He reached forward brushed a mass of black hair from his brother's face. "What are you trying to do, Mokuba?" he asked quietly.

He remembered his last conversation with Mokuba, in the helicopter. _You never do anything except run this stupid company, _he had said. _Why can't you stop being president of KaibaCorp and be Seto Kaiba for just one day?_

For a fraction of a second, Seto felt a twinge of an unfamiliar emotion; guilt. Maybe if he hadn't been such a workaholic, Mokuba wouldn't have been so inclined to side with Yugi. Maybe he would have still been in Japan and none of this would have happened...

Seto pushed the thought away instantly before it could materialise as anything. He took out his satellite phone and called Roland. There was a change of plan. He was going to be away indefinitely.

After he wrapped up the call and sat back in his seat again, he set his jaw. He was going to find Slater. That much was certain. And when he did...there would be hell to pay.

* * *

The five of them were crowded into the very back of the limo. Tristan was oohing and ahhing about being in a limousine, Joey was complaining about accepting help from Kaiba, Téa was leaving a message on her answering machine for Amber, and Bakura was staring into space.

Yugi watched him, concerned, but unsure how to act.

"Why did you keep interrupting me?" Bakura asked after a moment.

"Bakura...it wouldn't have helped if you told Kaiba what really happened."

"It was my fault!"

"No it wasn't!" he said firmly. "It...it wasn't."

Bakura looked up, hearing the tone in Yugi's voice.

"Bakura...I know how Mokuba feels. When my soul was taken by the Oricalcos, I had to make the same decision he did."

Bakura was silent, but his eyes were fixed on Yugi.

"I had to choose; when it came right down to it, it was my soul or the Pharaoh's. I know the circumstances weren't the same as they were today, but..." He trailed off. "What I'm saying is, I was afraid – of course I was. Who wouldn't be? But still...I knew that if the Seal took Atem, I wouldn't be able to get him back, and the whole world would be doomed; but if it took me, there was still hope that Atem could stop Dartz. That's what Mokuba was thinking yesterday; he knew that if he lost the game, then there was still hope for everything else. That's why he did what he did. Wherever he is, he doesn't blame you for what happened to him. And neither do we," he added, looking at Téa, Tristan and Joey.

Bakura smiled slightly. "Thanks, Yugi."

Yugi smiled too. "Don't mention it."

Silence passed between them for another moment, before Bakura spoke again.

"Can I ask you a question, Yugi?"

Yugi blinked. "Sure."

Bakura looked at Yugi. "Do you really think you wouldn't have been able to stop Dartz yourself if the Oricalcos had taken the Pharaoh?"

Yugi looked surprised, and opened his mouth slightly as if to answer, but before he could, they were interrupted by a question from Tristan and Joey.


	19. Another Flight

When they got back to KaibaLand, Kaiba instructed the staff there to keep the jet that he and had taken to America there for a while.

"I'll be using the Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet for the time being," he went on. "Get it ready for departure."

He turned to face Yugi and his friends again.

They had been hanging back, but now Yugi straightened up.

Kaiba strode towards them purposefully. "You said that Slater would be going to Stonehenge. Why would he do that?"

"I don't know," Yugi said. "He chose New York because Téa lives here, and Domino because that's where I was, but I don't see any reason why he would –"

"That's all I needed to know," he said, turning away again.

Yugi watched him go, biting his lip.

* * *

Slater never stopped being nonchalant, but internally he was spitting fire. His whole plan for New York had backfired, and now Yugi had three of the Millennium Items.

He had called his henchmen back to their rendezvous point as soon as his Shadow Game with Bakura had been finished, and they were on their way to England before morning.

He squeezed the Millennium Necklace so hard that his knuckles whitened. He wished that it had been wrong, so he could have blamed it for what had happened, but it hadn't. He had misinterpreted it.

It had shown him Bakura forfeiting the game. That had happened. It hadn't shown him what Mokuba had done to stop him. Slater realised that it had never actually shown him winning; he had just assumed that, from what he had seen of Bakura.

He dropped it back into his jacket pocket. That would not be happening again. He would make sure of it.

It was odd, though. The Necklace had led him to believe that he would be the victor. It was as though it had a mind of its own.

He remembered what he had first heard of the Millennium Items; each item chose its owner. They hadn't chosen him; he had stolen them. Slater frowned to himself. Could it be that they were somehow trying to make him lose his Shadow Games, so that Yugi would be able to win them back? Was that how Yugi had been able to use the Rod so easily in their first game?

He brushed it aside. Whatever the case, he wasn't going to lose the items to the likes of Yugi, whether they wanted him to or not.

"Mr Slater, sir?"

Slater almost jumped, but didn't let his expression falter. "Oh, it's you, Dempsey. What is it?"

Dempsey sat down opposite him. "Sir, the others are starting to worry again. They saw you fail; it's quite a blow to their faith in you."

Slater waved it off. "Tell them it was part of my plan. They'll be just fine."

"Sir..._do_ you have a plan?"

Slater sighed. "I don't know, Dempsey. I'd rather been counting on winning that little game with Ryou Bakura. But don't worry; I've already thought of something, and this time it will work. Besides," he said, smiling dryly, "if I had won back there, we'd have missed out on an excuse to visit Stonehenge. Wouldn't that be sad?" He tutted. "So, as I've said before and will say again; we have nothing to worry about. Yugi may be the king of games, but creating the games is an art in itself. That is the edge we have over him – I'm the one who chooses the games and what's at stake – and that's how I'll beat him."

Dempsey looked as though he was going to comment, but then thought better of it.

"But no matter! Why do I get the distinct impression that there's something else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"It's Seto Kaiba, sir. I don't think leaving before I finished what we started was the wisest thing to do. He won't take your threats seriously in the future."

"We don't need him to. Although..." His eyes glazed over for a minute while he thought. "Hm. Well, he hadn't originally been part of my plan, but after what happened to his brother I think we can safely say that he's in on what's going on between me and Yugi. You never know; I might find a way to include him in our next plot. Let me mull that one over. In any case," he said, "how long is it before we land?"

"About five more hours now, sir."

"I see. Well, that's plenty of time to think. Go away now, Dempsey. And tell anyone who even remotely considers interrupting me that..." He paused. "Hm. I'll let you decide what to tell them. Make it good. Or bad, depending on the point of view."

Completely ignoring any further remarks, he crossed his arms and sat back in his seat with his eyes closed, contemplating his next move.

* * *

The flight from America to England was going to be a long one. Unlike their flight with Mokuba, Yugi and the others sat in the back of the plane in an awkward silence.

"Do you think he can hear us from in there with the door closed?" breathed Tristan after about half an hour.

"It doesn't matter; we're not keeping any secrets," Joey said.

Despite this, the five of them watched the closed door of the cockpit as if they expected something to happen. It didn't.

"What are we going to do?" Yugi wondered aloud. "Why would Slater choose Stonehenge?"

"He probably didn't," Joey said. "He thought he was going to win; he would have said it on the spur of the moment. He probably just wanted somewhere far away, so that he would have time to think of a plan before we arrived."

Yugi sighed and nodded before they lapsed into silence for another minute or two.

"Don't worry, Yugi," Téa said. He looked up to meet her eyes, which were filled with concern. "I know you're worried about meeting Slater again."

Yugi looked down again. "I guess I am." He sighed. "The game he played with me was just a diversion; I only won because he made it easy enough to win."

"Don't be ridiculous, Yuug," Joey said. "You're the King of Games; you'd have won no matter what the game was."

Yugi shifted uncomfortably. He wished he could have as much faith in himself as Joey did.

"Even so...the only reason Slater doesn't have all seven items right now is because of Mokuba. If I lose the next Shadow Game, what he did will have been in vain."

"You won't lose, Yugi," Téa said, touching his hand gently. "We're all right here with you. As long as we're together, it'll be fine."

Yugi looked up to see four sets of eyes fixed on him. "Thanks, guys...thank you so much."

He knew that Téa was right; his friends would stick by him whatever happened. His face reddening, he looked at the floor again. What had he done to deserve friends like them?

* * *

Please review :D It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside :'D Even if it's just a word or two.

See you in chapter twenty ;P

~IA


	20. Stonehenge

Chapter twenty! Wow...this is a milestone I never expected to reach. Thank you all _so _much for sticking with me this far :D I can't believe I'm up to chapter twenty...and we currently haven't even started round four! Hahah...slow plots FTW!

Special thanks to everyone who reviewed in the previous chapters :D In particular, KittyKittyHunter, RiverTear980, Crazed Magician and Red Neo Ranger~! You guys are amazing :')

I'll get started – please review :D

~IA

* * *

Stonehenge was a two hour drive from London, and they passed it in silence. Kaiba's mere presence in their rented car was stifling, as though any words spoken around him would fall out of the air, dead, and the only way to save their lives was to leave them unspoken.

In the back seat, Yugi was sitting between Bakura and Téa, with Tristan and Joey sitting in the very back. Mokuba had been strapped into the passenger seat, with Kaiba driving.

Yugi had never seen Kaiba drive. It seemed almost shocking that he was even capable of something so very...normal.

Yugi was using his 'I Love NY' duffel bag to store the Millennium Items. It currently only held the Scales, since he was wearing his Puzzle, and Bakura the Ring.

Yugi looked sideways at Bakura. He could see that his friend was unhappy with having the Ring, knowing what it had cost, but he had expressed no desire to return it to Yugi. It hung limply around his neck, with his pale fingers eternally wrapped around it as though he felt, deep down, that he couldn't live without it.

Yugi looked at his Puzzle. He still missed Atem – he would always miss Atem – but having the Puzzle now...the pain of losing his friend hadn't gone away, but now, everything seemed somehow easier. It was as though a very distinct bond had formed between Yugi and the Puzzle itself, separate to the one he had shared with the Pharaoh. He could understand how Bakura felt about the Ring.

"We're here."

Yugi was startled hearing Kaiba speak; it was the first spoken word that he had heard in hours.

The six of them exited the car, and Kaiba instantly brushed past the others, to get ahead of them. Yugi and his friends gathered together, relieved to be out of the car.

"I finally understand what people mean by 'the silence was deafening'," Joey said.

Yugi nodded. After another moment, he asked in a quieter tone, "Do you think he'll be here?"

They didn't need a clue to know that Yugi was talking about Slater. "He came to New York when he said he would," Téa pointed out. "Whether he likes it or not, we have something he wants; he'll have to be here if he wants the items."

Their eyes turned towards Kaiba. "I hadn't expected him to help us," Bakura said.

"He's not." Yugi looked back at the car, where Mokuba was still lying in the passenger seat. "He wants to find Slater because of what he did to Mokuba."

"But why take us with him?" Téa wondered.

Nobody answered that for a while, each of them wondering the same thing. "Maybe he's finally admitted to himself that he needs our help," Tristan said.

"Yeah, maybe." Joey glanced at Tristan.

All five of them burst out laughing; whatever else happened, Kaiba would never admit to that.

* * *

Stonehenge had an outer perimeter fence, but after passing through the turnstiles, there was simply a two foot high rope holding them back about thirty metres from the stones.

It was late in the afternoon; very few tourists still lingered.

Yugi sighed. He had never been as fascinated with Stonehenge as he had been with Ancient Egypt, but it was still amazing to be standing there. It was such a shame that it had happened under such bad circumstances.

He saw Kaiba standing a few feet away from the rest of their group with his gaze fixed on Stonehenge. Both of them were thinking the same thing; Slater wasn't here.

But where was he? Yugi's gaze scanned the few tourists gathered around the rope. Any one of them could be working for Slater. But surely, if they had, they would have made a move by now.

Yugi could tell that Kaiba wasn't pleased with being dragged all the way from Japan, to America, to England, to find that Slater hadn't shown up at his rendezvous point. They all stiffened as he turned towards them. "How do I know you dweebs didn't just make up that story about Slater to get me to take you here?"

Joey was instantly on the defensive. "If you thought we were lying, why did you bother?" he bristled. "Don't tell me it only occurred to you now, moneybags!"

_Not helping, Joey!_ Yugi grimaced. "We haven't lied to you, Kaiba. Slater will show up here soon enough."

Yugi hoped against hope that he was right; if Slater didn't arrive, Kaiba would leave, and not only would they be left in England with no way back to Japan, but they would also have lost a formidable ally in their fight against Slater. And, Yugi found himself thinking, a friend.

Slater's absence didn't make sense; much as he didn't _want_ to see Slater, Yugi had expected him to be there. After all, between himself and Bakura, Yugi had three Millennium Items. That was nearly as many as Slater did.

Yugi started to wonder what Slater had planned for him next. He had brought his deck and DuelDisk with him; wearing them on his arm were still second nature to him. But judging by the past three games, it would be something other than Duel Monsters.

Yugi sincerely hoped that they wouldn't be tricked like they had in New York; if Mokuba, Amber and Bakura hadn't fallen into Slater's trap, Slater wouldn't have been able to use Mokuba and Amber as his pawns, and Mokuba would be safe now.

Kaiba grunted and started pacing the perimeter of the rope restlessly.

Yugi wished they could enjoy the stones more; they were a truly magnificent sight, with the sun setting behind them.

Eventually, the security had to tell them to move out. Stonehenge was no longer open for visitors.

Outside the perimeter fence, Kaiba had finally had enough.

"Why don't you nerds just accept that he's not coming?" Kaiba fumed. "If he was coming he'd have been here by now."

"Just...wait," Yugi insisted, before Tristan and Joey could start yelling at Kaiba.

He smirked. "You can wait all you want. I'm leaving."

"What about Mokuba?" Joey yelled at his back as he turned away.

"I'm taking him to a hospital, as I should have done from the very beginning. Then I'm going to find Slater using more reliable means than the word of you dweebs."

Joey and Tristan both made to chase after Kaiba, but Yugi, Bakura and Téa managed to hold them back. "Don't. We can wait here for Slater; we don't need Kaiba's help," Téa said.

Yugi watched Kaiba go, his thoughts elsewhere from the fact that they were now left outside Stonehenge in the dark with no means of leaving.

* * *

Seto Kaiba strapped himself into his seat and turned the key in the ignition. He had been foolish for taking the word of Yugi's nerd-herd. That wouldn't be happening again.

He cast a glance at Mokuba, still strapped into the passenger seat. He was going to find Slater. But he would do it on his own. Yugi and the others' word couldn't be taken; they were too easily persuaded to believe what was obviously untrue.

Stonehenge. Hah. He kept his gaze fixed on the road as he sped away. Mokuba would have loved to see that.

The road upon which he was driving was dark and deserted. There wasn't another vehicle in sight.

Or was there? Kaiba was beginning to make out another set of headlights in the distance. Ignoring them, he kept driving.

The other lights got brighter and brighter. Kaiba made sure to stay on his own side of the road.

And then, when the lights were still a fair distance ahead of him, they suddenly swerved onto his side of the road, skidding.

Kaiba floored the breaks, feeling the car vibrate with the ABS. The rented car managed to come to a halt mere metres away from the other car.

Kaiba was out of his car in a heartbeat, already preparing to spit fire at the other driver. He could have been killed!

The other car hadn't moved since it skidded to a stop on the wrong side of the road. Even the inside of it was dark. Using the light from the two cars' headlights, Kaiba made his way over to the driver's door.

"Just what do you think you're –"

The window lowered to reveal the dimly-lit face of a man in his late fifties, who was staring at Kaiba unwaveringly.

"Hello, Mr. Kaiba."

Kaiba had only heard the voice once, but he recognised Dempsey instantly.

Kaiba didn't say a word, and instead waited for Dempsey to make the first move.

The door opened, and Kaiba stepped back, meeting the older man's stare with equal fire. He didn't break eye-contact.

"As circumstance would have it, I was called away from New York before I could meet you in person during your stay there." Dempsey's jaw twitched slightly. "That won't be happening again."

"Why don't you just tell me what it is you're after, Dempsey?" Kaiba said in a cold but even voice.

"Due to a...miscalculation on my master's part, you, Seto Kaiba, have become involved in a circumstance that was not meant for you to become involved in." Dempsey smiled wickedly. "Since you therefore serve no purpose in this plot, I have been asked to...remove you from it."

Without another word, Dempsey reached into his car and pulled out an object that was very familiar to Kaiba.

Sliding his DuelDisk onto his arm, Stephen Dempsey looked Kaiba square in the face. "Seto Kaiba, I challenge you to a Duel."

* * *

So...if you didn't guess, I decided to have a crack at doing a Duel :D I'm currently in the middle of it...it's shaping up okay :/

I've never been to Stonehenge (Boohoo :'( ) I googled it to find out about the rope, perimetre fence and turnstiles, but other than that, it's all interpretive. I'm pretty sure they have watchmen at night; for the sake of argument, let's just say that Slater managed to take them out beforehand.

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE review! I don't want to be one of those writers who annoys everyone with her review demands all the time, but...PLEASE? O.o I'm still giving out those virtual cupcakes :D And hugs. You know you want them...:P

~IA


	21. Setting the Scene

*Excitedly distributes cupcakes and hugs* *HUGGIES :D*

~IA

* * *

Yugi, Téa, Tristan, Joey and Bakura settled down outside the perimeter fence of Stonehenge to wait for...something.

Yugi was starting to wonder if Slater was going to show up at all. He knew that he would find them eventually – he was hardly going to give up on three of the items, especially since they had all previously been in his possession – but when? It was difficult to tell. Kaiba's jet was incredibly fast, and they didn't know when Slater had left New York. For all they knew, he wasn't even in England yet.

"In the next Shadow Game," Yugi said. "I...I really hope Slater puts Mokuba's soul up along with a Millennium Item. The sooner we save him, the better."

Bakura scuffed his feet. "Yeah."

He lifted the Millennium Ring. In the dim light, it was difficult to make out.

"Sometimes I wonder how different our lives would be if the Millennium Items had never been created," Joey said.

It was something that Yugi had often wondered himself. "I wouldn't be friends with you guys," he said softly. "That was what I wished for when I solved the Puzzle."

"Serenity would be blind now," Joey pointed out. "If Pegasus hadn't wanted to get a hold of the Puzzle to resurrect his wife, he wouldn't have held the Duellist Kingdom tournament and I wouldn't have won the prize money."

"I wouldn't even have met any of you," Bakura murmured. "If I hadn't kept transferring schools..."

Yugi picked up his Puzzle. "So many horrible things have happened because of these items...but we also have so much to thank them for, too."

Bakura sighed, and nodded, still holding the Millennium Ring.

And then, completely out of nowhere, its five points began to glow.

Yugi and the others jumped, startled by the sudden gold light. The pointers turned to point in the same direction – somewhere out in the darkness.

Yugi shivered, wondering what was to come now.

The vehicle that emerged from the darkness wasn't out of the ordinary; it was just a Ute. Jam packed in the back of it, however, were twelve armed men, clad in black and wearing balaclavas.

As soon as the car stopped, they leapt from where they sat and surrounded Yugi and his friends. Yugi's heart raced as he found himself staring down the barrels of twelve guns.

His blood ran cold as he saw Slater step from the driver's seat of the car. His scarred, misshapen face looked eerily terrifying in the light shed by the Ute's headlights.

"Sorry I'm late! Those customs officials don't know when to quit."

Yugi gulped, not at all fooled by the easy tone in Slater's voice.

"Why don't you cut the act, Slater," Yugi said. "You came here to play a Shadow Game with me; now let's get it over with."

Despite the fire in his words, Yugi's insides were turning to jelly. He had lucked out the first time, and Slater had let him win the second. Now, Yugi was going to have to face whatever Shadow Game Slater had in mind head on. This was where it got difficult.

_Don't panic, _Yugi told himself. _Think. What would Atem do? _

* * *

Slater sighed. "Don't you want to thank me for giving you an excuse to visit this place? You should be happy – I let you get here early to give you an opportunity to enjoy the stones."

Yugi made to answer, but Slater cut him off again. "Whatever the case; if it's a game you want, it's a game you'll get, Game King."

Slater reached inside his enormous jacket and withdrew the Millennium Key.

He wasn't going to put complete trust in the Millennium Necklace again, but he still had use for it, at lease for the time being. The Rod, of course, couldn't be spared, and with the Eye in his head, he wasn't parting with it in a hurry. The Key was the only item he could afford to wager now.

Not that Slater had any intention of losing. The game he had in mind was just that – in the mind. It wasn't a test of how well one knew gaming; it was a test of how well one knew oneself.

Everything had played out according to plan – so far. He would face Yugi while Dempsey took care of Kaiba. That was why they had waited so long to arrive; so that Kaiba would leave before the others.

Slater hadn't been able to find a use for Kaiba in his plan, but with access to state of the art technology as well as being one of the best gamers in the world, the young CEO's presence on Yugi's side was a threat to Slater. He had to go.

Yugi's words jerked Slater back to reality. "I'm not putting up three Millennium Items for one and nothing else; you have to give back Mokuba's soul if I win."

Slater looked at Yugi, amused. "You really think _you_ get to decide that? I'm afraid you've forgotten that _I'm_ the one calling the shots around here, Yugi. You will wager the Puzzle, the Ring, and the Scales, and I will wager the Key. Winner takes all, fair and square."

Yugi hesitated. With the Millennium Eye, Slater could hear his internal dilemma. He didn't want to part with his Puzzle, and he didn't want to risk everything on a single game.

Slater saw his intentions a second before he moved. He signalled the three henchmen closest to Yugi, and before the boy could disassemble the Millennium Puzzle, there were three guns positioned inches from his face.

"I think it's in your best interests to leave the Puzzle as it is, Yugi..."

Yugi could only watch as a fourth henchman took the Puzzle from around his neck. A second later, Bakura was also surrendering his Ring at gunpoint.

Slater knew from reading Yugi's mind that the Scales were in his duffel bag. After taking that away too, Slater put the Puzzle and Ring inside it and zipped it up.

He dangled the bag now containing three items in front of Yugi. "Winner takes all."

"You haven't put the Key inside it as well," Yugi stated.

Slater pretended to look startled. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

He set the bag aside. Turning the Millennium Key over in his hands, he looked at Yugi. "I will now explain the rules of our next Shadow Game, Yugi. I hope you're up to it."

He could sense Yugi's growing tension, and smiled to himself. He wouldn't be thinking clearly if he kept winding himself up. And that was just what Slater needed.

"This game will be unlike any you've played before, Yugi. You see..." He held up the Millennium Key. "This is the item that I'll be putting up for grabs in our game. Why don't you tell me what it does?"

Yugi looked puzzled. "The Key gives its user the power to unlock the doors to a person's soul, giving them access to that person's soul room."

Slater sighed. "Entering another person's soul room is serious business, wouldn't you agree? The most unforgivable breach of their own privacy. But what about entering your _own_ soul room?"

Yugi stared at him. "What are you saying?"

Slater laughed. "This Shadow Game will take place in our respective soul rooms; to put it simply, the first person to leave their soul room will be the winner."

"But that doesn't make sense!" Yugi exclaimed. "How can you use a mind slave in a game like that?"

Slater laughed. "Oh, Yugi; you clearly should have paid attention when you learned about Shadow Games. The challenger can make up any rules to the game that don't give either player an unfair advantage; in this game, it will not be our own souls at stake, but somebody else's."

* * *

Yugi was sickened by Slater's words. How could his henchmen willingly choose to follow a man like that?

He remembered the duel in which Atem had duelled Marik's darker side; instead of the two player's souls being at risk, it had been Yugi and Marik's. This must be applying the same principle.

But even so...the game confused Yugi; the first one of them to leave their own soul room? What did that mean?

Slater was still speaking. "So, Yugi? Whose soul are you going to bargain?"

Yugi could do nothing but stare at him, utterly repulsed by the very idea. "You can't gamble with someone else's soul! And there's no way that I ever will."

Slater simply rolled his eyes. "Oh, I see how it is. You don't want to choose between your friends. In that case..."

His eyes shifted to Téa, Tristan, Joey and Bakura.

"I suppose I might as well use all four of them."

"Don't you dare hurt them, Slater!" Yugi gasped. "You're here to face me; they have nothing to do with it!"

Slater lifted an eyebrow in a not-so-innocent manner. "Since when did I care about that?"

He lifted the Millennium Key and moved it towards Yugi's forehead.

* * *

Seto Kaiba took out his deck – something he hadn't done in years, and hadn't planned to do in the presence of anyone but Yugi Moto.

He and Dempsey were standing between their two cars, preparing to duel by the cars' headlights. There were three of Slater's henchmen lingering on the outskirts of their makeshift field. Neither duellist dared break eye contact as they shuffled the other's deck.

Kaiba took his place opposite his opponent. This wouldn't take long; he wasn't going to lose to the likes of Dempsey, whoever he was.

"I'll give you a last chance to surrender, Kaiba," Dempsey said. "If you know what's good for you, you'll take it."

His words only made Kaiba more determined. "_Please_; you can't scare me. You don't know who you're dealing with."

Dempsey laughed. "I know enough to defeat you, and that's all I need. I've been given an order and I intend to follow it."

He pulled something from one of his enormous pockets. From where he was standing, Kaiba first had difficulty making it out. Then Dempsey held it up in front of himself, and Kaiba recognised the gold necklace that had once been worn by Ishizu Ishtar.

Kaiba still didn't believe in all of Yugi's stories about the Millennium Items 'magical powers', but the presence of the necklace in Dempsey's possession did do one thing; it confirmed Kaiba's suspicions that Dempsey was working for Slater.

Kaiba sniggered. "What are you going to do with that? Look pretty?"

Dempsey smiled wickedly. "In order to create a Shadow Game, one of the Millennium Items is required; this one was given to me in order to make eliminating you a little easier."

The darkness that crept in from seemingly nowhere to surround them didn't faze Kaiba at all; Dempsey was trying to throw him off guard with his light tricks. It was nothing he hadn't handled before.

Kaiba didn't like Dempsey's overconfidence. As sure as he was that this opponent would be no less easy to beat than any other opponent he had faced, there was something about him that Kaiba didn't trust – even less so than anyone else.

There was no way the Kaiba would let himself be intimidated by someone like Dempsey. Without a further thought as to his opponent's motives, he activated his DuelDisk. "It's time to Duel."

* * *

I've always wanted to say that :D

I also wanted Dempsey to say "YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS DEALING WITH!" but I cut that part out :( Oh well.

Sorry to anyone who was expecting me to start the duel in this chapter :/ Basically, I wrote this while putting off the beginning of the duel. It's surprisingly difficult to write XD but I'm managing – I think...I'll see how it goes ;D

I came up with Yugi's game on the spur of the moment. I'm not sure exactly how plausible it is, but with the help of Yugioh Wikia, I think I've confirmed that at the very least it could work :/ You'll see what I mean by 'leaving soul rooms' when I actually get around to writing and posting round four.

Once again; thank you soooooo much for reading :D In case you wanted to know, the word document in which I'm writing this story has exceeded one hundred pages, making it the longest story I've ever written...and not even finished XD so yeah...thanks a bunch :D

~IA


	22. A Duel With Dempsey

I finally finished! It took a while, but with the help of random. org, Yugioh Wikia and some pink lamingtons, I've pulled it off!

So in case anyone was wondering, I've based Dempsey's deck on my own :D I'm quite a fan of the Cloudian cards, but I didn't include them here *cries* not even Cloudian Smoke Ball! But yeah...other than that, it's my deck I'm revealing up here, so dis it and you die XD Believe it or not, I own all the cards Dempsey plays except Monster Reborn. I don't have one of those; is that normal?

If I get some of the rules wrong...then sorry D: I literally haven't played this game in years – none of my friends have decks :( I had a minimum of six tabs of Yugioh Wikia open at any one time while writing this – please bear with me! I'm trying DX

Oh and by the way – we find out Slater's first name in this chapter :D Don't say I didn't warn you that you won't be able to take him seriously anymore ;P

This is a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry long chapter – it's over eight thousand words! Please take your time XD If you can't be bothered reading it (I wouldn't), I can post a chapter summary at the bottom ;D

Also, don't read this in an airport; you might get arrested.

Thanks again ;D

~IA

* * *

"Since I am the challenger in this Duel, I'll make the first move." Without waiting for a reply, Dempsey began.

"First, I summon Gladiator Beast Hoplomus in defence mode." He placed the card on his DuelDisk, and a creature that appeared to be an armoured rhino was summoned to the field. The monster had attack and defence points of seven hundred and two thousand one hundred respectively.

"Next, I'll place one card face down." He did so, and the card appeared above the surface of the road. He looked at Seto, his eyes a clear challenge. "I think that will do for now."

Seto smirked. Dempsey had started off with a defence – an amateur mistake. This would be easier than he had expected.

Although...his eyes fell on Dempsey's face-down card. They were always a worry; did Dempsey want him to attack and trigger a trap? Or was it simply there as a bluff?

Seto looked at his hand. One of his Blue-Eyes cards was there, as well as Pot of Greed, Negate Attack, Vorse Raider and Shrink.

He considered this hand. If he managed to draw his other two Blue-Eyes cards and Polymerisation, he would be able to summon the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, giving him an obvious advantage. Of course, he couldn't simply rely on this happening.

"I play Pot of Greed," he said, playing the magic card and drawing another two cards from his deck. Kaiser Glider and Monster Reborn.

"Next, I'll summon Vorse Raider in attack mode. Then I'll also place a card face down," he concluded, setting Negate Attack on his DuelDisk. He looked at Dempsey expectantly.

* * *

Dempsey smiled to himself. As much as he knew that Seto Kaiba was one of the world's greatest Duellists, he had little doubt that the outcome of this Duel would be in his own favour.

He drew a card; the magic card H – Heated Heart. That would come in handy later; he added it to his hand.

For now, however, things were already shaping up nicely. Kaiba hadn't attacked Hoplomus during his turn. Which allowed Dempsey to-

"I summon Electric Lizard to the field. Then I sacrifice it and my Gladiator Beast Hoplomus in order to summon Firestorm Prominence in attack mode!" He slapped the card onto his DuelDisk.

The giant flaming crocodile that appeared on the field seemed real enough, despite being simply a hologram. It let out a ferocious snarl.

Dempsey smiled smugly. He had managed to summon a monster with two-thousand attack points within the first two turns.

"Next, I equip it with the magic card Junk Barrage." Dempsey set the magic card on his DuelDisk. "Firestorm Prominence – attack Vorse Raider!"

"Reveal trap card!" Kaiba countered. "Negate attack – your attack is cancelled out and the battle phase of your turn has ended."

Dempsey cast him a murderous look, but said nothing; he had been foolish to attack while Kaiba had a face down card. He was lucky it hadn't been a more dangerous trap.

He only had one card left in his hand; H – Heated Heart. Since he could no longer attack, playing it now would be useless. "I end my turn."

While he waited for Kaiba to make his next move, Dempsey's mind started to wander. That wasn't a good thing during a duel – especially a Shadow Game – but it happened nonetheless.

Dempsey looked down at his single card, and to the cards he had on the field. He had always been quite a fan of this game – not to mention a very skilled duellist. He hadn't been able to play it often in the past few years – Slater didn't play it, and he tried to set himself apart from the rest of the group. And he hadn't really been in contact with anyone else at all in most of his life.

His alliances with Slater had been numerous over his life, but while not few, they were certainly far between; when he had encountered Slater before all of this had happened, it had been seven years since they had last met.

The first of these alliances – if it could be called that – had occurred over thirty-five years ago.

* * *

_Stephen Dempsey was twenty-two when he first met Slater._

_It had been late at night; Dempsey was taking a walk outside._

_The street was empty but for the occasional car whizzing past, or a stray dog nosing through a pile of rubbish. The street light cast an eerie shadow onto the surrounding street. It was the scene in a picture book that preceded the first appearance of the story's villain._

_Despite this, Dempsey felt right at home; he had never been afraid of the dark. As far as he knew, he had never really been afraid of anything._

_Dempsey had never been in trouble for anything, either – nothing against the law, anyway. It wasn't that he was a simply law-abiding citizen. It was just that he had never found anything that perked his interests enough to break rules over. He was happy to simply live out his life abiding by other people's rules if that was the price he had to pay for solitude. _

_And so, for the last twenty-two years, he had done nothing but watch the world around him as it evolved. Despite the advances in technology – the fancy new cars, the bizarre television programs that kids now watched, even the moon landing – Dempsey had never seen mankind itself change. Everyone was human; everyone always acted the same in the end. People went to school, got jobs, obeyed the law, made families, died. _

_Dempsey uttered a sigh, the cold night air turning his breath into a cloud._

_He was passing a corner shop when it happened._

_It wasn't anything that would have caused suspicion – at least not to the untrained eye. The door opened slowly, and somebody walked out and closed the door behind him. _

_But Stephen Dempsey's was not an untrained eye. A ten-year-old exiting a corner shop in the middle of the night clutching a bundle of notes to his chest was not something regular, even in this part of the city._

_When the kid saw Dempsey looking at him, and at the money he held, he knew the game was up. He bolted._

_Dempsey caught him by the collar. The boy's feet continued travelling forward underneath him, and he let out a surprised huff. Without giving him a chance to wriggle free, Dempsey grabbed the boy under the arms._

_The kid was smart; he knew he couldn't overpower a man of Dempsey's size. Instead, he pulled his legs up to his chest. He wasn't heavy – he was only small, and his body was lean – but the sudden weight on Dempsey's arms startled him, and he found his grip slipping._

_As soon as the boy's feet hit the ground again, he made another escape attempt. Dempsey finally managed to get a secure grip on the kid's arm._

"_What do you think you're doing?" he asked simply._

_The boy turned a pair of strikingly fierce blue eyes on him. "What the hell does it look like I'm doing?" he snarled._

"_Robbing a corner shop. Of course, I could be wrong; why don't you tell me and I can decide what to do from there?"_

"_Go to hell," he spat._

_The boy had quite a mouth. Dempsey chuckled; he had to give him a certain degree of respect if he was brave enough to foul mouth a man twice his size, not to mention age. "What's your name, boy?" he demanded._

"_Who wants to know?"_

_Dempsey brought the boy into a headlock. "I do."_

_He looked like he was about to make another smart comment, then eventually thought better of it. "Slater…Archie Slater."_

"_I see." Dempsey didn't take his eyes off of Archie. "Well then, Master Slater, I'll ask you again; what are you doing exiting a corner shop with a big wad of cash in the middle of the night?"_

_Archie hesitated, suddenly a lot more unsure of himself. "Robbing it."_

_Dempsey gestured to the bundle of notes. "How much is in that?"_

_Archie scowled. "About five hundred dollars – as much as was in the safe."_

_Dempsey lifted an eyebrow. "How did you get into the safe? Not to mention the shop."_

"_I cracked the code and picked the lock. So what?"_

_Dempsey was surprised. "How old are you?"_

_Archie scowled again – or maybe he just hadn't stopped from the first time. "Ten – why do you care?"_

"_You're telling me that you're ten years old and you successfully picked a door lock and cracked a safe code?"_

_Archie spat. "I didn't have to – I was in here the other day and I managed to spy on someone opening the safe. I already knew the code."_

"_I see; you didn't, then."_

_Archie looked insulted. "Hey, I didn't say I couldn't have done it, just that I didn't have to! And I still picked the lock."_

_Dempsey chuckled. "Yes – you should be so proud of yourself," he said with undisguised sarcasm._

_Archie scoffed. "You're probably a cop. Why am I telling all of this to you, anyway?"_

_Dempsey shrugged. "What difference does it make now?"_

_There was a pause as he tried to think of another smart response. When none came, he just said, "You're right." He laughed dryly. "You're right – so what are you going to do now?"_

_Dempsey shrugged. "I suppose I should turn you into the police..." He paused. "Yes; that's what I _should_ do." Dempsey's face suddenly hardened. "But I'll tell you something, Master Slater; you've impressed me. It takes a certain type of person to be able to do that, and where will I be if all the people who can are getting arrested?" Without waiting for a response, Dempsey released his grip on Archie's arm. "You've got one minute. If I see you again after that..."_

_Archie blinked, amazed that he was actually being let off. "Oh...um, thanks."_

"_Get out of here, kid." Dempsey gave him a shove._

_Archie ran a few metres before stopping and turning around. "Hey, mister? What's your name?"_

"_Dempsey. But since I technically just assisted a robbery, that's all you're going to get."_

_Archibald Slater scowled, but turned and disappeared into the night, still holding the thick bundle of notes._

* * *

Kaiba drew a card from his deck. It was Polymerisation. That would come in handy later, when he had the rest of his Blue-Eyes cards.

Unfortunately, it was not what he needed now. He looked over his hand again; Kaiser Glider, Monster Reborn, Shrink, Polymerisation and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. And he still had his Vorse Raider on the field.

He knew that if he didn't destroy Firestorm Prominence by the next turn, Dempsey would attack with it. There was still the matter of Dempsey's face-down card, though...

He pushed it aside – he was Seto Kaiba, and face-down cards didn't frighten him.

"I play Shrink!" Kaiba slammed the magic card onto his DuelDisk. "This card allows me to halve your monster's attack points until the end of this turn. Now, Vorse Raider, attack Firestorm Prominence!"

Dempsey didn't activate his face-down card, and Kaiba felt a great deal of satisfaction; his opponent had just lost nine hundred life points as well as a powerful monster.

Despite this, Dempsey didn't seem too upset. In fact, he was laughing. "I suppose you weren't aware of Firestorm Prominence's special effect – when ever it's destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, it destroys all face-down and non-fire type monsters on the field. I guess it's bye-bye to your Vorse Raider. Not only that, but your attack has activated my trap card – Flashbang, forcing you to end your turn now. "

Kaiba glared at Dempsey but said nothing. He had still destroyed Dempsey's monster and taken a chunk out of his four-thousand life-points. This duel was already tilting in his favour.

* * *

Dempsey also drew a card and smiled to himself. "I summon Gladiator Beast Bestiari!"

He now had a monster on the field, and Kaiba had none. Not only that, but he didn't have any trap cards on the field either. "Next, I play the magic card H – Heated Heart, giving him an additional five hundred attack points. Attack his life points directly!"

With the magic card in play, Gladiator Beast Bestiari had two thousand attack points, and it was exactly this amount of life points that Kaiba lost. Dempsey smiled smugly; he had already cut his opponent's life points down by half.

"Not only that, but Gladiator Beast Bestiari has a special effect; at the end of my turn's Battle Phase, if it attacked or was attacked, I can return it to my deck and summon another Gladiator Beast monster. And I choose this; Gladiator Beast Dimacari, in attack mode!"

He placed the card onto his DuelDisk. "This card also has a special effect; if it was summoned by the special effect of another Gladiator Beast monster, it can attack twice during each turn. I hope you're ready for next time."

The monster that appeared was a giant armoured ox. It had an attack strength of sixteen hundred and a defence of twelve. It would serve to protect Dempsey's life points, at least for a while.

Dempsey shuffled Gladiator Beast Bestiari back into his deck. Without any cards in his hand, he had to hope and pray that something good would end up at the top.

He wondered how Slater's Shadow Game with Yugi Moto was progressing – they had probably at least started by now.

His thoughts returned to Slater. After first meeting when Slater was just a ten-year-old boy, they hadn't met until five years later.

* * *

_It wasn't a proper meeting – simply a chance encounter. Dempsey had been passing a local shopping centre at the time._

_Nothing had seemed abnormal…until an alarm suddenly sounded inside the building. Dempsey looked up, surprised, as an announcement came over the centre's loudspeakers; everyone was to evacuate the shopping centre and the surrounding area. There was a bomb somewhere nearby._

_A bomb? Dempsey managed to get out of the way of the entrance just as the droves of shoppers started pouring out of it in a panic. They made for their cars, trying to get away as soon as possible._

_Dempsey still hadn't moved. Something didn't seem right. _

_Shoppers were still radiating outwards from the main entrance of the centre, running frantically. Keeping his cool, Dempsey started walking briskly away from the building with his hands in his pockets._

_Unlike the others, who were taking themselves as far away as possible at top speed, Dempsey hid as soon as he was out of sight. Across the road from the shopping centre was a small park, at the edge of which was a block of public toilets. Dempsey sat down behind them. He was completely alone – everyone who would have been nearby had already left._

_But not Dempsey – this bomb threat had sparked his interests, and he wasn't going anywhere. If the bomber wanted his threat to be serious, why would he allow all of the shoppers a chance to escape?_

_It was only a matter of minutes before the streets around the shopping centre were completely deserted. There were still messages coming from loudspeakers, telling anyone around to evacuate. The roads had been sealed off. Everything was eerily quiet._

_And when he was sure that nobody else was around, he made his move. _

_He pulled from within his jacket pocket one of the few essential he always kept on his person – a balaclava. It was a surprisingly handy thing to carry, at least for Dempsey. He pulled it over his head and, keeping his eyes peeled, crossed the road and entered the front door._

_The police had arrived, as well as a bomb technician team. They were everywhere, scouring the building for any traces of the bomb. Despite this, Dempsey was able to evade discovery in an instant with the ease of practice._

_It wasn't the bomb he was interested in, it was the bomber. By all reasoning, the bomber would be somewhere well away from here, but if Dempsey's hunch was correct…_

_Dempsey heard the sound of the police somewhere nearby, and he quickly rounded a corner and flattened himself against the wall. If they found him here, he would be an instant suspect._

_He made his way through the shopping centre. After reaching the other side, which had clearly already been searched – nobody was around – he relaxed slightly. But not completely – the shopping centre probably had video surveillance. Fortunately, they wouldn't be able to see his face._

_He looked around the seemingly deserted shopping mall. _If I were the bomber…_It didn't make sense; if he were the bomber, he would be far away. So why did he think that the bomber was somewhere nearby?_

_Because he was – it was as simple as that. He didn't know how or why, he just did._

_He had made it to the food court. The tables were deserted, with half-eaten meals still on the tables. A few large pot plants sat in various places around the tables, and Dempsey crouched behind one, thankful of the cover it offered. It was likely that somebody was already on their way there. He had to find the bomber and get out fast – or just get out fast. Sometimes he didn't know which was the better option._

"_Those losers!"_

_Dempsey's breath caught as he heard the voice. Peering out from his hiding place, he saw three teenage boys run into the food court. Two of them had arms loaded with various video games and other assorted loot. These two were chortling smugly under their breath._

"_Hey, let's grab something to eat before we go!" One of the carrying boys said._

"_Shh." _

_The third member of their party wasn't carrying anything. And he wasn't laughing – his face was set in a permanent scowl. Flanked by his two comrades, he looked like the ringleader. "You idiots – we're getting out of here." He grabbed each of them by their sleeves. "Come on."_

_Dempsey stared at them. They were taking advantage of a bomb scare to rob the mall? Even teenagers couldn't be that stupid._

_He smiled. It looked like he had found his 'bomber'. Pulling off his balaclava, he stepped out into the open._

_He was separated from them by the tables and chairs in the middle of the food court. Instantly, the two boys carrying the loot saw him. Dropping what they held, they reached for their belts. Dempsey saw that each of them had a pistol. _

"_No."_

_There was a sudden silence as the third boy, who couldn't have been older than fifteen, held up his hand. "Don't."_

_Dempsey caught his gaze and held it. He already knew who this was – his voice had broken and he was stronger and taller, but there was no mistaking the fire in those fierce blue eyes._

"_Archibald Slater," Dempsey said matter-of-factly._

"_Mister Dempsey." Archie nodded with mock politeness. "Fancy meeting you here."_

_Ignoring the looks of surprise on his comrades' faces, Archie smiled at Dempsey wickedly. "Are you going to turn us in, Mister Dempsey?"_

_Dempsey ignored this remark. "You created a bomb scare just to steal a couple of video games?"_

_He snorted. "I created a bomb scare because I was bored. These two wanted the video games." He gestured to his friends. "I had to plan this whole ordeal; compromise the security cameras, organise a way out – I even managed to create a commotion on the other side of town so the police would have less men to spare." He shrugged innocently. "Impressed?"_

_Dempsey lifted an eyebrow. "I'll say, at the very least, that it demands a certain degree of respect to be able to pull something like this off. But you're only half done, aren't you? You still have to get out."_

_Archie laughed. "Now _that's _a simple matter. We haven't been found yet and they'll never know we were even here."_

"_But you still have to get past me."_

_At this, Archie's confidence unbalanced. Slightly. _

"_You let me go last time, Mister Dempsey; I know you're not a cop. Why would you want to stop me?"_

_Dempsey looked at him. "You know what? I don't know. So I'll let you go on your way again. I came in here to satisfy my curiosity, and I've managed to do that. You've caused quite a stir – I'd advise you to be careful, but I think you already know that."_

_Without another word, Dempsey took his leave before any security guards arrived, leaving Archibald Slater and his two comrades to find their own way out._

* * *

Dempsey's mind jerked back to reality; he was playing a Shadow Game with Seto Kaiba. It was still his turn.

But not for much longer; he ended it, and looked at his opponent expectantly.

* * *

The next card that Kaiba drew was Quick Attack, which allowed a fusion monster to attack on the same turn it was summoned.

Again, it would be useful later – _if _he was able to draw the rest of the cards he needed to summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and he wasn't going to rely on that happening.

He needed to summon a monster before the next turn; if Dempsey's monster was able to attack twice, he was finished.

"First, I play Monster Reborn in order to bring back my Vorse Raider. Next I sacrifice it in order to summon Kaiser Glider in attack mode!"

Despite having lost half his life points, Kaiba wasn't too concerned...yet; this duel was still going to go his way. Dempsey was relying on drawing the right cards at the right time, whereas he, Seto Kaiba, could win no matter what he drew.

Gladiator Beast Dimacari was relatively weak; it had sixteen hundred attack points next to his Kaiser Glider's two thousand four hundred. "Kaiser Glider, destroy his monster!"

The dragon let out a roar and attacked Dempsey's beast. Even as nothing more than a hologram, it was enough to make Dempsey flinch.

Without taking his eyes off Kaiba, Dempsey sent the card to his Graveyard.

He drew another card.

After looking at it briefly, Dempsey placed it on his DuelDisk. "I summon Test Ape in defence mode."

The monster that appeared had the appearance of an ape sealed within a test tube. One of its arms was robotic, and a strange headpiece covered its eyes. It only had three hundred defence points.

Kaiba laughed. "Is that all you've got for me, Dempsey? I suppose it is; there's nothing left for you to do but defend."

Dempsey just smiled. "If you're so sure of that, then go ahead and attack. I end my turn."

Kaiba drew his next card. It was Card of Demise.

He pondered this. Card of Demise allowed both players to draw until they had five cards in their hand. Kaiba had three; Quick Attack, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and Polymerisation. Another two would certainly be a welcome addition, but...

He looked at Dempsey. His opponent didn't have any cards in his hand at all. Kaiba certainly didn't want to be aiding Dempsey more than himself.

His Kaiser Glider was still on the field. The Test Ape would be no match for it.

Dempsey had no face-down cards; he couldn't have set a trap in the form of a trap card. But looking at the sheer puniness of the monkey in front of the dragon, Kaiba knew that even Dempsey wouldn't be foolish enough to rely on the ape's strength. It must have a special ability.

But what if he was bluffing? He couldn't be planning to sacrifice it on his next turn; he had no cards in his hand.

Whatever happened, Kaiba wasn't about to let himself be scared by a monkey. "Kaiser Glider, destroy his Test Ape!"

The ape was obviously no match for Kaiba's dragon. Kaiba sniggered. "I'd advise you to stop defending, but if your little monkey had been in attack mode, you'd have lost nearly two-thousand life points."

Dempsey laughed. "I suppose I would have. Unfortunately for you, when my Test Ape is destroyed in battle, it allows me to summon a level four or lower Gladiator Beast Monster from my deck. You must remember my Gladiator Beast Bestiari."

The armoured bird appeared on the field once more as Dempsey placed its card on his DuelDisk again. "What's the matter, Kaiba?" he jeered. "It's still your turn."

Kaiba didn't like the way this duel was going; so far, neither player had been able to have more than one monster on their side of the field at once. Kaiba still had Kaiser Glider, which far outranked Dempsey's Gladiator Beast in both attack and defence; but it had already attacked on this turn.

He needed a plan.

He was Seto Kaiba; he always had a plan. He didn't rely on luck as amateur duellists like Joey Wheeler did; Kaiba always knew what he was doing, and it always worked.

He ended his turn.

* * *

_It wasn't until Dempsey was thirty-four that he met Slater for the third time._

_It hadn't been an accident, either – it was very deliberate. _

_Dempsey had quite literally been ambushed in the quieter part of town by seven armed men. One minute he had been walking down a street, and the next he was being held at gunpoint._

_Unlike anyone else would have done in such a situation, Dempsey stared his attackers down. Even without the upper hand, he was an extremely intimidating individual. "What do you lot want?" he demanded._

"_Stephen Dempsey?" one of them asked._

"_Don't see why it matters." _

"_We want you to come with us. However, if you choose to say no, you will not be harmed."_

"_Then what's with this?" Dempsey indicated the guns._

"_A precaution."_

_Normally, Dempsey would have simply left. But something about this situation interested him; he wanted to know more._

"_And just what's in it for me if I go with you?"_

"_Somebody wishes to strike a deal with you." _

_A deal? Dempsey eyed each of them warily. What could their 'somebody' possibly want with him?_

_He had a feeling he knew; he agreed. "Very well; take me to your master. But I'm warning you, if this is some kind of trick…" He cast around a menacing stare; if they attacked, he would be able to take out at least the first four of them…_

_The seven men surrounded him and, still staring him down the barrels of their guns, they led him away._

_The streets down which they led him twisted and turned through a labyrinth of dark backstreets and alleys; anyone else would soon have become hopelessly lost. But this was the kind of neighbourhood Dempsey was used to; it was nothing he couldn't remember. _

_They stopped at what appeared to be a once-flourishing apartment block. Now, the paint was peeling and the 'for sale' sign out the front had started to fade. Looking over their shoulders, the men opened the door and entered._

_They led the way up several flights of stairs. A thick coating of dust covered everything – the walls, the handrails. A clear trail on the stairs indicated that they had been used quite a lot of late, but the sides of each step was still grey and dusty._

_Dempsey didn't say a word to any of them. His mind was still on whatever awaited him. Even though they had told him that he wasn't in any danger, he didn't trust them. At the very least, he still had his own gun concealed in his jacket._

_Finally, they reached the top floor. Unlike the rest of the floors they had passed, this one was clearly occupied. The men led their captive to the door on the end. _

"_We've brought him for you, sir."_

_There was a pause. Then, "If you say so. Let him come in. Hurry up – I'm sure he's busy."_

_They stepped back from the door and looked at Dempsey expectantly. Without breaking eye contact, Dempsey entered. _

_The furniture used by the apartment's previous tenant had been removed. However, the room held a few pieces of furniture; a few chairs and a table. Across to one side of what had once been a lounge room, there were three desks arranged in an open square. Each of them was covered in stacks of paper. Two held computers._

_Stuck to the walls were countless blueprints of building layout – there must have been at least a hundred. Whoever lived here was clearly into building design. _

_Although, judging by the circumstances under which Dempsey had been brought to him, not the kind of building design that involved designing buildings._

_He looked around, wondering where the owner of the voice was. He walked forward a few more steps into the main part of the apartment. It was seemingly empt-_

"_Dempsey! It's been years."_

_Dempsey whipped around. Standing across the room from him was a man he had never expected to see again. "Archibald Slater. It certainly has."_

_Slater had aged considerably since their last encounter in the shopping centre; he was now a man in his early twenties, but he appeared much older. A long, deep cut ran down the side of his face, aging him somehow. Only his eyes remained unchanged by seven years of wear and tear – they never ceased to daunt even Dempsey._

_Slater smiled innocently. "You'll have to forgive me for the nature in which you were brought here; I needed to make sure you knew I was serious, and I figured you wouldn't be able to resist the prospect of some mysterious employer who wanted to speak with you."_

"_Did you?"_

"_Well, it worked, didn't it?" He shrugged. "At any rate, take a seat."_

_Dempsey didn't. Neither did Slater._

"_How did you find me?" Dempsey asked curtly. _

"_You mean how did I find out who you were, or how did I find out where you were?"_

"_Either." Dempsey folded his arms._

"_Both. I'm afraid you're not as anonymous as you once were, and as to finding you…I have my ways."_

_Dempsey looked at him._

_Slater sighed. "I can tell you're not satisfied with my answer – why don't I fill you in from the beginning?"_

"_You do that."_

_Slater huffed. "Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?" He went on without waiting for an answer. "You see, after our initial meeting, twelve years ago, I assumed that you were a regular citizen who had pitied me for my youth. I forgot about you soon enough." He leaned back against the wall. "Then we met again. Now, I've never been one to believe in destiny or fate, but our little encounter made me think about you again. I knew that no ordinary man would enter a building that he thought to contain a bomb just to satisfy his curiosity. And," he went on, "you let me off a second time. What kind of 'regular citizen' would do something like that?"_

_He laughed. "So, you had roused my suspicions about you. However, I was just fifteen at the time; there was little I could do to discover the identity of the elusive 'Mr. Dempsey'. _

"_But…" He smiled. "Once I had graduated high school, I could devote myself to a life of crime – my parents had given up on me, and I had nothing else to worry about. And it was in this life that I stumbled upon your name, completely by accident._

"_I think you and I both know where we stand in the world of crime, Dempsey. We're quite alike; both of us are specialists in every area of crime. I fancy to say that there is no law I cannot break – and evade the police, too. But you can do more than that, Dempsey; you break the law, evade the police, and nobody ever finds out your name. You're twelve years older than I am and don't have a criminal record. I'm impressed, and I'm not the only one; you're quite famous in the criminal world, Dempsey. It's only natural that I know who you are, because there are few in our world who don't."_

_Dempsey lifted an eyebrow. "I'm flattered. But you didn't bring me here to compliment me on my exploits as a criminal."_

"_Indeed I didn't." Slater had to ponder his next words. "Dempsey, you and I have something the other lacks; you have experience and you're careful enough to cover up your tracks unfailingly. And I'm a criminal mastermind." He laughed. "It's as simple as that. I propose that you and I form a partnership that would be mutually beneficial."_

"_What would you have me do?" Dempsey asked._

"_You may have noticed that I've gathered some rookies to help me out – you would have to keep them in check; we can't afford a mutiny in the world of crime. Other than that, you would have to do everything I say; I come up with what to do in whatever exploits we so choose, the others act it out, and you lead them while they do it. Since getting away and failing to leave evidence is right up your alley, we would never get caught. Then we split all proceeds from such missions forty-forty, with the remaining twenty divided up between the ten others."_

_Dempsey lifted an eyebrow. Slater had always intrigued him._

"_You're on, Slater."_

_Slater pushed himself off the wall. "Then what are we waiting for?"_

_Their first 'mission', as Slater called it, was a success. And the next. And the next._

_They continued their partnership for another four years, periodically hopping from place to place, building a bigger group. Archibald Slater's 'team' soon became infamous in the criminal world._

_And nobody in the real world ever knew they existed. _

_Five years after they parted ways, they joined up again. Then they split up again after another two years. This pattern continued for another two decades._

* * *

Dempsey drew his next card.

It wasn't what he needed; Gladiator Beast's Battle Halberd allowed a Gladiator Beast monster to destroy one trap or spell card every time it attacked. Kaiba had no spell or trap cards, and looking at Kaiser Glider, Dempsey wouldn't be attacking any time soon.

He didn't let Kaiba see it, but Dempsey was getting concerned; he still had no useful cards in his hand, and only one monster on the field. He needed more cards.

He considered switching Gladiator Beast Bestiari into defence mode. It would protect his life points until the next turn – provided Kaiba wasn't able to summon another monster.

He pushed this thought away; he would _not_ give Kaiba the satisfaction of seeing Dempsey put another card on the defensive. He had always been too proud for his own good. He ended his turn.

* * *

The next card that Kaiba drew was the Crush Card Virus.

He smirked. It was an old favourite of his, as it allowed him to destroy every powerful card in his opponent's deck. To work, however, it required a dark type monster with one thousand or less attack points, and that was something that Kaiba didn't have.

What he did have, however, was the upper hand; Dempsey may have had more life-points, but his Gladiator Beast was totally defenceless against Kaiba's dragon.

"Kaiser Glider, attack Gladiator Beast Bestiari!"

Kaiser Glider has nine hundred attack points more than Bestiari. Now, Dempsey was down to two-thousand two-hundred life-points, next to Kaiba's two-thousand. It was getting closer to even.

Kaiba had four cards in his hand, and Dempsey had none.

He wanted to summon his Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He had had it in his hand since the beginning of the game and been unable to summon it yet. He needed another monster to sacrifice.

It didn't matter yet, though; Dempsey still had no monsters and only one card. Kaiba ended his turn.

Dempsey drew another card and looked at it. Then he placed it on his DuelDisk. "I play the magic card Gladiator's return, which let's me add three Gladiator Beast Monsters from my Graveyard to my deck, and draw one new card. Since they're the only appropriate cards in my Graveyard, I choose Gladiator Beasts Hoplomus, Bestiari and Dimacari."

He shuffled these cards back into his deck and then drew another from the top.

Kaiba didn't trust the smile that appeared on his face.

"I summon Naturia Beans in defence mode."

Kaiba almost laughed upon seeing the three beans – literally, beans – that appeared on Dempsey's side of the field. Each of them had animated-looking faces. One was even hiding inside a seed pod. They looked even more pathetic than Yugi's Kuriboh.

"Unfortunately for me, I have no more cards to play. Looks like I'm ending my turn here."

Kaiba withheld a snigger and drew his next card.

Perfect.

"First, I place one card face down," he said, setting the Crush Card Virus in case he needed it later. "I summon Blade Knight. Then I sacrifice it and my Kaiser Glider in order to summon the all-powerful Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba literally slammed the card onto his DuelDisk as though it were attracted there by a magnet.

The giant dragon was terrifying, even holographic. It let out a fearsome roar, and the three Naturia Beans backed off and cowered inside their seed pod. With only twelve hundred defence points next to Blue-Eyes' three thousand attack, they were especially puny.

Kaiba looked at Dempsey. "Now do you see how it's done? I'm sick of destroying your pathetic defence monsters – why can't you play a real card! I'll even help you by getting rid of your Naturia Beans. Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroy them now with White Lightning Attack!"

The dragon roared and unleashed its fury upon the tiny beans. The burning lightning illuminated the entire field blindingly.

Finally, the light faded. Laughing, Kaiba opened his mouth to gloat.

And then he realised that the Naturia Beans were still on the field. He almost did a double take.

Dempsey laughed menacingly. "You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you? My Naturia Beans have a special ability; once per turn, they cannot be destroyed in battle, which means you can't destroy them with only one monster. You should have attacked with your Blade Knight and Kaiser Glider. Not only that, but whenever they're targeted for attack, you lose five-hundred life points."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at him.

"Alright then, Dempsey. I play Card of Demise. Now we each have to draw from out decks until we're both holding five cards, as long as we discard our entire hand in five turns."

Kaiba had played Crush Card earlier, so now he was able to draw three cards.

Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Silent Doom and Versago the Destroyer.

This would be easier than he had thought. Versago the Destroyer could be used instead of another monster in a fusion – that meant he only needed to draw his final Blue-Eyes in order to summon the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

He looked over at Dempsey, who had also just drawn a new hand. There was something about the look on his face that Kaiba just couldn't shake off. He summoned Versago the Destroyer in defence mode and ended his turn.

* * *

Dempsey was able to draw four cards from Kaiba's unexpected – but not unwelcome – move.

He looked over his new hand. And smiled.

He still had his Gladiator Beast's Battle Halberd, as well as Healing Wave Generator, Witch Doctor of Sparta, Monster Reborn and Electric Virus. He couldn't have asked for a better hand.

"First, I discard Electric Virus from my hand. Its special effect lets me take control of one face-up Machine or Dragon monster of yours until the end of this turn. Can you guess which card I'm choosing?"

Kaiba's face turned pale. "Oh, he's not..."

Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on Dempsey's side of the field.

Dempsey himself pointed at Kaiba's Versago the Destroyer. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack his monster!"

Kaiba had to cover his eyes from the dragon's attack. He silently thanked himself that he had played the second monster; if his Blue-Eyes had attacked him directly, it would all be over now.

Dempsey wasn't done yet. "Next, I summon Healing Wave Generator in defence mode!"

The monster card that he played had sixteen hundred defence points, and appeared to be some kind of machine mirror. "Its special effect lets me once per turn select one monster I control, and gain life points equal to that monsters level multiplied by four. I think you know what that means; I gain eight hundred extra life points for controlling your dragon."

His life points rose back up to three thousand. "Lastly, I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."

* * *

"Since your turn is over, Blue-Eyes White Dragon is no longer in your control." Kaiba watched his dragon appear back on his side of the field.

He currently had fifteen hundred life points next to Dempsey's three thousand. Dempsey had two monsters on the field, one of which couldn't be destroyed by one monster and would cost him one thousand life points even if he could destroy it, and the other would increase Dempsey's life points by at least four hundred every turn.

But Kaiba still had one of the most powerful monsters in Duel Monsters, as well as half the cards needed to summon the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. He had lost his Versago the Destroyer, but the other Blue-Eyes cards were somewhere in his deck.

He drew his next card, which was Monster Reborn. Kaiba put it in his hand with the rest of his cards.

"I'm going to attack your Healing Wave Generator – Blue Eyes White Dragon, destroy it now!"

That took care of Dempsey being able to gain life points. But there was still the problem of the Naturia Beans. He needed to draw Reflect Energy.

"Next, I play the magic card Silent Doom. It lets me summon one monster from my Graveyard in defence mode, provided that the summoned monster cannot attack. And I choose Kaiser Glider."

Kaiser Glider had two thousand, two hundred defence points; more than enough to keep his life points safe, as long as Kaiba didn't attack the Naturia Beans with Blue-Eyes.

"Now who's the one playing for defence?" Dempsey sneered.

Kaiba ignored him. "I end my turn."

Dempsey laughed. "I thought so." He drew a card and placed it in his hand. "I summon the Witch Doctor of Sparta in defence mode!"

Dempsey smiled wickedly. "As long as this card is in play, you lose five hundred life points every time a monster is special summoned from either of our decks."

"You're wasting your time," Kaiba said. "I can destroy it on my next turn with my Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Dempsey glowered at him. "If you're sure. I place another card face down and end my turn."

Kaiba looked at Dempsey's two face-down cards. He had little doubt that they were traps. However, Dempsey hadn't activated the first one during Kaiba's previous attacks.

Kaiba drew a card.

It was a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Perfect.

"Alright, Dempsey, let's see how you face up to this; first, I play Monster Reborn in order to revive Versago the Destroyer!"

"Costing you five hundred life points while Witch Doctor of Sparta is in play," Dempsey said matter-of-factly.

Kaiba's life points reached a mere one thousand. "Next, I'll play Polymerisation in order to combine it with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand and the one on the field, in order to fusion summon this!" He slammed the card onto his DuelDisk. "The all-mighty Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

Dempsey did something very unexpected; he laughed.

"You really are the duellist you claim to be, Seto Kaiba; I'm impressed. But unfortunately for you, it won't be enough; I've already won this duel."

Kaiba sniggered. "_Please_, don't try to make me laugh. There's no duellist alive who's good enough to beat me."

He reached for Quick Attack. He would destroy Witch Doctor of Sparta this turn, and then simply destroy every card Dempsey played until he had drawn the right card to destroy Naturia Beans or attack Dempsey directly with his dragon.

And then Dempsey suddenly froze, hearing a sound in his ear.

* * *

_The knocking of a door wasn't a sound Dempsey was accustomed to._

_He had never been convicted – Slater was right; there was nothing Dempsey couldn't cover up – but Dempsey had never lived in the same place for more than six months. He never told his address to anyone – anyone – and he always found a residence out of sight and out of mind to anyone but those who knew about it. Nobody ever came by. _

_When he had last been working for Slater, seven years ago, the henchmen had often announced their presence with a hesitant – always hesitant – knock. Knocking was something Dempsey had learned to associate with Slater._

_So when the knocking on his door came, Dempsey was immediately suspicious; he hadn't seen Slater in seven years. If this was the police, he wasn't about to walk into their trap. He made for the back door and flung it open as a decoy before crouching on the floor of the bathroom. With the ease of skill, he pried one of the large tiles up and set it aside. It wasn't a secret passage – it was just a large hole. It would give him somewhere to hide if-_

_There was a crash as the front door was knocked down._

_Not a friendly visitor then. Dempsey began to lower himself into the hole in the floor._

"_Stephen Dempsey, I'm here on behalf of Slater." _

_Dempsey froze. So it _was_ Slater._

_He jumped back to his feet and, grabbing the gun from his ever-present belt, Dempsey rounded the corner with the gun raised, and pointed it at the stranger's face._

_He instantly held up both hands. "I'm unarmed. See? I just want to talk."_

_Dempsey cocked the gun. "Nobody 'just wants to talk' to me. What does Slater want this time?"_

_The man, who couldn't have been older than twenty, looked uneasy – considering he had a gun pointed at his face, this wasn't surprising. "I- um...ah...I just...I have a message f- for you. Please, I'll go as soon as I have. He kind of threatened to kill me if I didn't deliver it."_

_Dempsey lowered his gun slightly. "Slater wouldn't have killed you – he finds it more fun to just watch people squirm and then scar them for life. Out with it, or Slater's going to be the least of your problems."_

_The man's next words sounded high-pitched and distorted. "I...I was just granted a parole after two years in prison. Slater was in the prison with me and he said to find you and deliver this mess-"_

_Dempsey raised the gun again. "I don't care. What is it?"_

_He literally covered his head. "You have to put the men together and bust him out exactly one week from today. And I need to give you this – it's the address of the helicopter and enough weapons to arm everyone." He gingerly pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and let it flutter to the floor. _

_Dempsey rolled his eyes. "And did he tell you why he thought I'd agree to something like that? We are allies, not friends. If he landed himself in a slammer then it's not my problem."_

"_Oh, well...he also said...tell you 'I've found them.'"_

_Dempsey's gun inched closer to the man's face. "What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_I- ah, I don't know! I was hoping you would! Can I go now?"_

_Dempsey lowered his gun. "Yes. Get out."_

_The man didn't need a second telling. He made his escape within seconds, leaving Dempsey to his thoughts._

_He wasn't at all surprised; Slater had half the police in America trying to find him. It was only a matter of time before he wound up behind bars. Dempsey had always been more careful._

_And he already knew what Slater had meant by 'I've found them'. Slater had been looking for them for as long as Dempsey could remember._

_It was enough for Dempsey. He grabbed his satellite phone; he would do as Slater said and bring the old henchmen back together. It was time for one more alliance._

* * *

Anti-Fusion Device was a trap card that destroyed one face-up fusion monster on the field. It was the same card Dempsey had played face-down on the previous turn. It was also the card Dempsey would use to destroy Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. After that, Dempsey was going to use his face down Monster Reborn card to summon a monster from his deck, costing Kaiba another five hundred life points. Then it would only be a matter of time before Dempsey had drawn something he could use to destroy Kaiser Glider and win the game.

Dempsey smiled, waiting for Kaiba to declare his attack.

"_Dempsey, this is Slater. Drop whatever you're doing and go._"

The voice came through Dempsey's headpiece with the air of someone who wasn't interested in arguing.

Dempsey's hand reached for the transmit switch. "Mr. Slater, sir; you can't be serious! I'm just about to win!"

There was a pause. "_Dempsey, I don't care if Kaiba has one life point left and you have every monster in your deck on the field in attack mode; we're leaving here now, and so are you._" There was a buzz of static before the connection was cut off.

Dempsey stared at the cards in his hand blankly for a moment.

"This duel is over. I'm leaving."

"You're forfeiting," Kaiba sneered. "I'd hoped you'd be a more honourable player than to just give up rather than admit defeat.

Dempsey cast him a murderous glance. "I'll be seeing you very soon, Seto Kaiba."

The Shadow Realm lifted, and Dempsey made his way back to his car without so much as another word to Kaiba. Barking a few instructions to his three companions, the car sped off into the night. "You had better have won this time, Archie..." he muttered, looking into the rear-view mirror at Kaiba's shrinking figure.

* * *

I know Seto draws Monster Reborn twice...ah, well :D It is a magic card.

So...yeah. For the confused; Dempsey was a 'law-abiding citizen' at the start, but some time between then and five years later he gave up that role.

Naturia Beans! I love that card ;D They're cute~! And Gladiator Beasts ;P They're so EPIC!

I know my duel wasn't as cool as some of the episode duels :( sorry! I deliberately left it open-ended - even with their respective game plans, either of them could still have won XD I don't know much about the whole 'cancelling Shadow Games' thing, but since Bakura did it in season five, I thought, why not?

Please review :D See you in chapter 23!


	23. Round Four: The Millennium Key

I haven't written about Yugi in nearly ten thousand words! I'm in Yugi-denial D:

I'd just like to say that for the month of May, this story received 1,491 Hits...that's a lot...for me XD Thanks a b

* * *

Yugi felt himself falling forward, but not in the sense that preceded an untimely collision with the ground; in the sense that he was being somehow drawn into himself. Into the recesses of his very own mind.

It was all over in a second. He found himself stumbling forward onto seemingly solid floor before he had time to properly register what had happened. He blinked, taking everything in.

Slater had used the Millennium Key on him, he was about to play a Shadow Game in which Téa, Tristan, Joey and Bakura's souls were at stake, and he had to get out of his own soul room before Slater did his.

He felt a growing sense of panic. He didn't even understand what the Shadow Game meant. He couldn't even see his opponent to know what he was doing.

"Yuug? What just happened?"

Yugi jumped slightly, and turned to see Joey standing a few feet away with the others. Yugi felt an immense tide of relief – he wasn't alone.

He didn't answer immediately, and instead cast his gaze around the room they were in.

If he had never visited it before, he would still have known in an instant that it was a reflection of his mind. The floor was littered with dozens of different games; puzzles, board games, toys, game consoles, brainteasers...almost instinctively, Yugi found himself wanting to pick up the closest one. All those hours of playing Sock Concentration had paid off; he truly was the King of Games.

There were various pieces of furniture; a desk and chair, a bed, a book case, a chest of draws...Yugi was closest to the desk, and he walked over to it. Every spare space in the room was covered with Duel Monsters cards; hundreds more than Yugi owned in reality. "We're in my soul room," he murmured, suddenly remembering Joey's question. "Slater sent us here for the Shadow Game."

He suddenly noticed a bare patch between the cards on his desk. It formed a ring, at the centre of which lay a neatly stacked pile. Yugi picked up the top card as his friends gathered around him to see. It was the Dark Magician. Yugi picked up the entire stack and looked through it, recognising his own deck; the Egyptian God Cards were there, and the Dark Magicians...the whole deck he had built with the Pharaoh. On closer inspection, he realised that the top half of the deck contained the cards Atem had used in the Ceremonial Duel, and the other half the ones that Yugi had used to defeat him.

There was more to the room than simply games, though; atop the draws was a photograph of Yugi with his friends. Not just the four who were with him, either; Duke was there, and Serenity, Rebecca, and Mai. So were the Kaiba brothers, and the Ishtar family. Even Miho, who had moved away from Domino when they were still in high school, had a place among Yugi's friends. The people in the picture were arranged specifically, too; those closest to Yugi were standing closest to him in the picture; Téa, Tristan and Joey were flanking him on all sides. Bakura stood a few feet away, as did Seto. Mokuba was even further still, with Rebecca, Serenity, Duke, Mai and the Ishtars. Miho was only half visible on the very edge of the picture.

Upon picking up the picture, Yugi noticed another aspect to it; himself. The shadows fell upon his face in such a way that the perception of the image could be subtly altered by the viewer's mind. When Yugi first saw his own picture, he saw himself, but as soon as the other thought – the thought of the Pharaoh – crossed his mind, he was seeing Atem. He blinked, thinking of himself again, and just like that, the person in the picture was Yugi.

Yugi smiled to himself; it was a perfect representation. The Pharaoh was still part of him. Gone, but there, and able to be seen by doing no more than thinking of him, or remembering him.

Yugi put the picture down and looked around his soul room again. It had changed since he last saw it; the walls, while not carved stone like Atem's had been, were covered with Egyptian hieroglyphs. Yugi could barely read any of them; he recognised a few of the symbols, but their meaning evaded them.

His eyes settled upon the wooden door on the far end of the room.

"Slater said we just had to leave," Bakura said, making for the door hesitantly.

"How do any of his associates put up with something as cryptic as that?" Tristan muttered as all five of them gathered around it. Frowning, Yugi tried the handle.

Unsurprisingly, it was locked.

Tristan and Joey instantly backed up. "Nobody move," Joey said, grinning. "We'll bust it down."

Téa instantly grabbed theirs shoulder before they could act. "Don't be so stupid – this room is Yugi's soul; you could hurt him if you damage anything."

"There's got to be more to it than just getting out," Yugi said quietly. "None of Slater's Shadow Games before now have been particularly hard; he relies on using hidden twists to bend it in his favour, like when he used a fake Millennium Puzzle, or when he tried to make Bakura quit to save Mokuba and Amber. I'm sure this is the same; we can't get out by breaking the door, so we have to figure out how we're supposed to unlock it."

"With some kind of key?" Tristan wondered.

"The key is probably hidden somewhere in this room," Bakura said. "I'll bet that finding it is part of the Shadow-"

Since Yugi knew that he was going to say 'game', he at first didn't register Bakura's abrupt cut-off of speech. When he didn't continue, however, Yugi frowned.

"Bakura?"

He and the others turned around to face the spot where Bakura had been standing, only to find it empty.

Yugi's blood ran cold. "Bakura? Where are you?"

Téa, Tristan and Joey scanned the room. "Where could he have gone?" Tristan asked.

"I wasn't watching him – I was looking at the door." Joey abstractly looked under the desk. "Hey, Bakura! What happened?"

Yugi gulped. "How long have we been in here?"

Téa hesitated. "I wasn't paying attention. It couldn't be longer than five minutes..."

"Slater's put a time limit on this game," Yugi breathed. "Oh, he wouldn't...he _wouldn't_...that's just sick." He frantically grabbed at the door, as if shaking the handle would somehow unlock it.

"Yugi, calm down; what's wrong?" Téa asked, touching his shoulder.

"I get it now; when I run out of friends, I lose the game. We've already lost Bakura." Yugi stared at her. "He's just...gone."

Téa sensed his growing fear. "Don't worry, Yugi," she said instantly. "There's got to be a way to save him."

"And Slater still has to get out too," Tristan said. "We haven't lost yet; Bakura wouldn't have wanted us to just give up."

"Yeah," Joey added. "And for all we know, winning will bring him back. We can't give up on him, Yuug."

Yugi bit his lip and nodded, grateful for their company. He cast a glance at the picture on the desk. _Please help me, Pharaoh._

* * *

Despite the familiarity of the room he found himself in, Slater had never visited it before in his life.

Or had he? The sights it held were all familiar to him; the dusty boxes, the damp walls and ceiling...it was the vision of his life; hiding out in abandoned warehouses and deserted buildings which he fondly referred to as 'base camp', before moving on to another, similar location.

There was a window, too; it had bars, which were now gnarled and mangled on the edges of the frame, leaving a hole easily big enough to climb through. The meaning was obvious; Slater's escape from prison.

This was terribly convenient; it was part of Slater's very soul that there was nothing that could contain him. Whereas Yugi, although the King of Games, was still just a frightened child inside; missing his friend Atem and easily scared. There would be no adjacent window in his own soul room.

Slater used one of the boxes as a foothold as he climbed up to the level of the prison window. Smiling smugly, he reached his hand towards it to pull himself through.

It took him a few seconds to realise that his hand hadn't moved; it still hung limply at his side. He frowned, and tried again. Still nothing.

Frustrated, Slater tried moving his hand experimentally. It worked. But when he tried to reach for the window again, it refused to obey him.

He crossed his arms. Interesting; it looked as though his soul room wasn't offering him an easy way out after all. Or maybe it was the Shadow Realm; it was against the rules to use a window. Yugi had used a door, and so should Slater.

Slater hadn't remembered making the door part of the rules. But then again, it was really the Millennium Items – in this case, the Key – that allowed him to create Shadow Games. If he was right about the Items trying to somehow 'plot against him', they could have somehow subtly altered the rules to include leaving through the door.

Slater looked around the room again. His four pawns lay against one wall, unconscious. He smiled to himself; he had allowed Yugi's friends to be awake for Yugi's side of the game, because it would he harder for Yugi to stay focused if he was forced to watch his friends vanishing around him while they spoke and interacted.

Slater, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less for his victims.

He tried the door experimentally. Nothing. Presumably, Yugi was in his own soul room doing the same thing.

And coming to the same conclusion; they had to find a key.

* * *

Yugi's mind had set into game mode.

"All doors are unlocked with a key," he said. "This one is no different; it needs a key to open it. And that key is somewhere in this room."

All four of them scanned the room. With the cards scattered everywhere, a key would be a needle in a very large haystack.

"Everything in this room is somehow a representation of me; the hieroglyphs are because of my connection with Ancient Egypt, the games are because I'm good at games, and the fact that Duel Monsters cards are the most prominent is because it's my favourite game."

"Then the key would be the same," Joey said. "It's somehow a representation of you."

Yugi nodded. "So we need to find the aspect of me that would manifest itself as a key, and figure out where in the room such a manifestation would occur."

"Sounds simple enough." Tristan was nodding. "So – any ideas?"

There was total silence.

"We should search while we're thinking," Joey said, pushing aside a Rubik's Cube with his foot as if expecting the key to be underneath it. "Even if we don't know where to look, it's better than standing around."

Yugi nodded, and after unanimous agreement, they set about at looking for the key.

Whilst turning over countless cards and games and leafing through every draw he could find, Yugi was raking his mind; a key, a key...what about him could be represented by a key?

A key unlocked a door. What about Yugi was like unlocking a door?

"This is harder than I expected," Joey said, straightening up and making his way to another part of the room. "Hey, Tristan."

He waited.

"Tristan?"

Nothing.

Yugi already knew what had happened when he whipped around. The room was small, and there was nowhere anyone could conceal themself, but Tristan was gone. Just like Bakura.

"Tristan!" Yugi was almost crying; now two people were gone because he wasn't thinking fast enough. _Please, please, please, let them come back if I win._

There was nothing he could do for Tristan now. He quickened his pace, sending cards flying as he checked every surface for the key.

After a moment, Téa spoke. "Maybe we should all keep each other in eyeshot; both Tristan and Bakura dissappeared when nobody was looking at them."

Yugi didn't have much hope for that, but he tried anyway; always keeping Téa or Joey within sight.

* * *

Some of the boxes were full of weapons, all of which bore the engraved name of someone else. Typical Slater; he could use a gun, but didn't usually carry one, instead keeping his hands free while everyone else did the dirty work.

Others contained wallets full money, none of which belonged to Slater. Another easily interpreted aspect of his personality; he owned a lot of money, but none of it belonged to him.

But nothing contained anything remotely resembling a key. He had already covered the dusty floor with the contents of the boxes in his increasingly frantic search. Two of his henchmen had already vanished.

He knew for a fact that the game wouldn't end until one of them had left their respective soul room. Once all four of the souls had been lost, the player would simply be alone until the end of the game.

But Yugi didn't know that. His heart would be breaking with each loss, thinking that when they were all gone, he would lose any chance of saving them. When they were all gone, he would be utterly alone.

Slater didn't like that he couldn't watch Yugi's progress. But it couldn't be helped. At the very least, Yugi couldn't watch him either.

He felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle, and he looked up again at the picture on the wall. The young Egyptian woman's blue eyes were endlessly focused on him.

This was another easily interpreted aspect of Slater. Ishizu Ishtar; she had watched him for years. And that was something that always got on his nerves.

* * *

Yugi was sweating. They hadn't found the key yet.

He was getting worried; even without figuring out where they key should be, it was still somewhere in the room. And they had turned over everything in the room, opened every draw, and searched every space. Still nothing.

He felt another chill. What if he had gotten it wrong? What if the way out wasn't with a key, and he had just been wasting precious time while his friends' very souls dissappeared around him.

He looked at the door. Maybe they _could _break it down...Téa had said that could hurt him, but it didn't matter if the alternative was losing his friends. Without hesitating, he hurtled himself at it, hitting it with a thud.

It didn't budge.

Joey and Téa were at his side in an instant. "Stop it, Yugi!" Téa exclaimed, pulling him back from the door. "That door is part of your soul – who knows what breaking it could-"

And then she vanished before his eyes.

"_Téa!_" Yugi felt a tear trickle down his face. The hieroglyph-covered walls spun around before his eyes. Three people were just too much. It wasn't fair.

He was suddenly aware of Joey shaking him. "Snap out of it, Yuug!"

Yugi jumped slightly, staring at the last friend he had in his soul room. "They're gone, Joey..."

"Only if we give up. We can still find the key."

"How do you know that will bring them back?" Yugi demanded. "And we don't even know if there is a key! How can you be so sure we'll find one?"

"Because I have faith in you, Yugi. And you know what? Téa, Tristan and Bakura do to. So let's do this!"

Yugi blinked, coming back into reality. Joey was right – the others may still have a chance if they found the key. He couldn't believe he had panicked. Watching his friends disappear around him...it was his only weakness.

"Thanks, Joey."

"No problem, Yuug." He grinned, trying to reassure him. "Now let's find that key!"

Yugi nodded. This was still a game, and he, the King of Games, was going to win it.

* * *

Yugi could only assume that Slater hadn't found a way out of his own soul room, since there had been no inclination that the Shadow Game was over. It was a daunting prospect; Slater could win at any moment, and Yugi had no way of knowing.

Yugi had reached a dead end. Not only did he have no idea where to look, but he had run out of places to search; they had turned the entire room inside out. Nothing.

"Any other ideas, Yuug?" Joey looked at him.

Yugi bit his lip. "I don't know. If the door is supposed to be our way out, then the key theory is still our best bet, but..." He looked around the room. "We don't have time to search it again."

"We'll keep trying." Joey started scouring the room a second time, pushing aside furniture and scattering cards and other games in every possible direction.

Yugi set to work at it too. He was grateful to still have Joey; Joey was lucky. Maybe that would be enough to find the key.

But however lucky he was, it wasn't enough to save him from the Shadow Realm. Just like the others, Joey suddenly disappeared where he stood.

Yugi stared in dismay at the spot where his friend had been standing. "_Joey_!"

He felt bile rise up in his throat. That was it. All of his friends were gone. He had failed them.

Yugi sank to his knees, not caring about the Shadow Game anymore. The Shadow Realm could have his soul; how could he live with himself now? Now that he had gambled with his friends' souls – and lost. His shoulders trembled with sobs. Tears pooled on the floor below him. His friends were gone. And it was his own fault.

He closed his eyes, wishing he could forget where he was. It was just too horrible. How could he have let them down? All he had to do was find a stupid key, in his own soul room! That was it; all he had needed to do to save his friends. All he cared about.

_All he cared about..._

Yugi's sobs abruptly stopped. All he cared about?

To find the key was all that mattered to him in this room.

So, what was all that mattered to him in real life?

Yugi straightened up, already making for the photograph.

* * *

Slater was having a great deal of fun with this game. Yugi would be falling apart at the seams. Slater had only one henchman left, and it had been that way for at least five minutes. It was only a matter of time before the last one was gone; as would Yugi's last friend.

There was still the problem of his own key, though; he couldn't win without it.

He was frustrated. If this were life, he would have just stolen it.

He froze. Stolen it?

Why hadn't he seen it before?

He ran towards the last unconscious victim, jamming his hand into his coat pocket. He withdrew a small silver key a moment before the man disappeared before Slater's eyes.

He laughed maniacally. Of course; everything he ever needed, he stole from somebody else. It was like having to be told the answer to a very easy riddle.

Not only that, but Yugi had just lost his last friend. Slater pictured him, sobbing alone in the room hidden away in his mind. There was no way of his winning now; he would have lost his will to keep playing.

And Slater had found his key. Still laughing, he made his was over to the door, reaching towards the keyhole.

It suddenly receded before his eyes. Slater felt himself be jolted forward, and suddenly, he was surrounded by darkness.

But not total darkness. There was a pair of truck headlights illuminating the grass he was standing on. Behind him was a fence, beyond which lay a starlit Stonehenge.

"I won, Slater."

Slater turned to be faced with Yugi Moto.

"Ah, Yugi! So you did. Well done." Slater spun the Millennium Key around his finger. "I suppose you'll be wanting this then."

"Where are my friends?" he demanded, looking furious.

Slater's eyes fell on the four unconscious figures at Yugi's feet. "Not to worry; four souls have been lost, four souls have been spared. Your friends got lucky; I was only seconds away from victory. They'll wake up soon."

If it had been possible for Slater to spit fire, the Millennium Key which was thrown to Yugi would have done so atop a blazing wave. Smiling innocently, Slater made his way back to his car. "Dempsey, this is Slater," he said into his headpiece. "Drop whatever you're doing and go."

While he listened to Dempsey's irate disagreement, he gestured to the remaining henchmen to move the four bodies of Slater's victims into the back. Wordlessly, they obeyed.

"Dempsey, I don't care if Kaiba has one life point left and you have every monster in your deck on the field in attack mode; we're leaving here now, and so are you." He terminated the connection, and opened the door of the Ute. "I'll see you later, Yugi. Atop the Eiffel Tower, that is."

And, leaving Yugi standing in his wake, he started the engine and took off into the night.

* * *

HUZZAH! FRANCE XD

Hey, would you believe me if I said I once climbed the Eiffel Tower, and only went to the second level? (There are three...) Yeah...we had to queue for an hour to be able to climb it, but we couldn't climb up to the top; we were supposed to use a lift. But that would have taken another hour of queuing and my mum just said, bugger it, we're leaving :( boohoo! It was a nice view from the middle, though :D Not sure what they're gonna do for round five...there isn't much space up-

THAT'S IT!

Okay, ignore what I just said :D I know now ;)

I liked this chapter – Yugi was in it lots! I love Yugi. I have a stuffed baby panda named Yugi. And I liked it cuz I got to be all mushy about the whole 'saving his friends' thing. Who doesn't love mushiness?

EPIC MIHO CAMIO! Lol, not really...I probably missed out of a few people in the photograph D: Let me know if you think anyone else deserves a place :D I'll add them ~.^ But yeah...Yugi's key was in the photo frame, behind the photo itself. In case you didn't guess...I hope it wasn't too obvious from the start :D

I had no idea where I was going to put Slater's key, but then I thought, steal it :D So he stole it from generic evil henchman No. Four's pocket :D

Ishizu being in Slater's soul room...no great significance there. I just thought it fit since she's been stalking him her whole life XD

Please review :D I love you guys *huggles* See you in Paris ;D


	24. Waking Up

Slater and Dempsey met up again a mile away from Stonehenge.

While the two people who had accompanied him had remained in the car, Dempsey was leaning with his back against the car, his arms crossed, and fuming internally. He had been so close to defeating Seto Kaiba. The fact that he had been forced to leave before the end seemed even worse than the prospect of having lost – not that such a thing would have happened. Kaiba would always think of himself as having gotten the best of Stephen Dempsey.

When he saw the headlights approaching, he pushed himself off the car. As soon as Slater was out, Dempsey spoke. "You had better have had a damn good reason for calling me off, _sir_," he said, drawing out the last word in a mocking tone.

Slater ignored this. "We have more pressing matters than your pride, Dempsey. It would seem that Yugi was able to figure out the key to our Shadow Game a split second before I did."

Dempsey sighed. "You lost again," he said matter-of-factly.

Slater waved it off in his usual uncaring manner. "Don't be such a lemon; now we get to go to France! Isn't that lovely?" Without waiting for a response, he turned around and headed back to the car he had arrived in. When Dempsey didn't move, he turned again. "Well, don't just stand there."

Gritting his teeth, Dempsey left his car on the roadside and opened the door to Slater's.

* * *

Slater's mind was in action. Suddenly, everything was more serious. Yugi now had more Millennium Items than he did.

He couldn't believe it! He had, barely a week ago, possessed all seven. And now he had three.

As he started the engine, his fingers traced the outline of the Millennium Eye, still in his own head.

Without speaking, Dempsey suddenly withdrew the Millennium Necklace and placed it on the dashboard in front of Slater, who picked it up and stuffed it back into his jacket.

It had never really occurred to him until now that there was a possibility of him losing all of the Millennium Items. He hadn't thought it possible that Yugi would even pass round one.

The Millennium Necklace would have to be the prize in Paris. He couldn't afford to lose the Rod or the Eye. He wasn't risking his soul in a game with Yugi, and the Eye gave him an obvious advantage.

But even the power to see into his opponent's mind hadn't been enough to defeat Yugi. He would have to make the next game something where the Eye's power would be an advantage to Slater.

And there was still the matter of the souls he had lost; four of his henchmen were down, as well as Mokuba Kaiba. He still held their lives in his hands. That gave him an upper hand. Yugi wasn't going to be reckless if their lives were at stake, particularly Mokuba's.

His lips curled into a twisted smile as a thought came to him. Something that would work.

* * *

The voices were muffled and scratchy, as though they were coming to her through a brick wall.

But they were getting clearer. It wasn't long before she could make out words.

"…waking up…"

"Keep the press out…still injured…"

"…Don't care about police investigations. She's my patient…"

Ishizu's eyelids were heavy. She felt as though she couldn't possibly lift them without somebody else holding them up.

Slowly, they managed to drift open. The light that assaulted her retinas seemed blinding. She had to wait for what felt like an eternity between each increment of their opening while they adjusted to the light.

She was staring at a while ceiling. There was a sharp spell of hospital medications in the air.

Disorientated, her eyes flitted around. She saw two people a few metres away, arguing. One was wearing a white coat, and looked like a doctor. The other was obviously a policeman.

"Doctor, I admire your concern for her wellbeing, but this woman knows vital information that could assist in the capture of a dangerous criminal, not to mention the recovery of one of seven five thousand year old authentic Ancient Egyptian artefacts."

"It can wait; you're not going to speak with her."

"I've been coming here every day for over a week now and it's when she wakes up that you tell me to leave?"

"I've been telling you to leave for over a week now too. You'll get your chance to speak with her when I say you can. Until then, she needs rest-"

"No…" Ishizu breathed.

Both heads turned in her direction. "Miss Ishtar!" the doctor exclaimed. "You don't need to worry; everything will be fine."

Ishizu tried to sit up, but failed. "I know what happened…the seven items were stolen from the museum, weren't they?"

The policeman jumped at this opportunity. "Yes – can you tell me what-"

"I said no," the doctor said angrily, but Ishizu ignored him. "It's fine…I want to tell him. There was a man – his name is Archibald Slater. He broke out of prison and went to steal the items."

"Why would he do that?"

Ishizu hesitated. She couldn't exactly tell him why. "I don't know."

"What were you doing in the museum at the time of the accident?" the man was jotting down what she said excitedly.

She couldn't exactly tell him that, either. "I…I don't really remember. I-"

"That's because she received a blow to her head," the doctor interrupted. "Now if you will _please _leave, Miss Ishtar needs to be left in peace."

The man looked infuriated, but, having at least received a name, obeyed. "I'll be back later."

Ishizu watched him go. She didn't expect the police to be able to help with much, anyway. This was beyond their control.

"How long have I been asleep?" Ishizu asked.

"Just a little over a week," the doctor told her.

"I need to speak with my brothers, Marik and Odion," she said. "Do you think you could tell them that I'm awake?"

The doctor nodded. "Family visitors are something I can approve of; they've both been coming and going ever since you arrived here. I'm sure they'll be glad to hear you're awake now. I'll let them know - you just rest for a while."

"Thank you."

As he went off to find a phone, Ishizu found herself staring at the ceiling again.

What could have happened in a week? If Odion and Marik had time to visit her in hospital, then Slater couldn't have used the Millennium Items yet. That was something everyone would surely know about.

She remembered the Millennium Puzzle. She had disassembled it.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time; at least one Item that Slater couldn't use. But thinking about it now…

She knew Slater very well; she had been watching him for her whole life. He wouldn't be satisfied with six Millennium Items. He would try to solve the Puzzle. And when he couldn't, he would try to find the one person in the world who was able to.

And that was Yugi. Whatever else had happened, Yugi was now involved in this.

She wanted to get up as soon as possible and go, but her entire body felt stiff and weak. Uttering a frustrated sigh, she waited for her brothers to arrive.

* * *

I don't know much about Egyptian hospital or police systems…deal XD or about waking up from comas...but yeah. Hope it wasn't too unrealistic X'D

So this chapter didn't advance the plot much – Dempsey is now mad at Slater, and Ishizu is awake. Huzzah for Ishizu! Chapter twenty-five should be up soon ;D

Anyways…thanks again so much for reading :D :D :D I love you guys *huggles*


	25. Rendezvous

You've got to be kidding me - I've been doing _this_ for a full twenty-five chapters O.o?

I'd like to thank absolutely everyone who is reading this - really, I love you so much! ~.~ Seriously, you guys are legends C; I love you! :D :D :D

Oh and, hey faaaaaaaaaangirls :D Guess who shows up in this chapter ;D!

~IA

* * *

Despite what Slater had told him, Yugi almost panicked when his friends didn't wake up. It was at least five minutes before they started to stir.

"W- what just happened?" Bakura murmured, sitting up.

"Yugi!" Tea exclaimed. "Did you find the key?"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah…I did. We won."

Joey grinned, getting to his feet. "I knew you'd pull through for us, Yuug!"

Yugi felt his face get hot, and he scratched the back of his neck self-consciously. "I almost lost; Slater found his at the same time as me. I just got to the door quicker."

Tristan snorted. "That's what he told you. I bet never even had a clue."

Once everyone was on their feet again, Yugi started to wonder what they were going to do now. After all, like every other Shadow Game they had had with Slater, this one had finished in the middle of the night. Not to mention the fact that they were standing outside the perimeter fence of Stonehenge, and Kaiba had taken the car.

Kaiba. That reminded him. "Before he left, Slater radioed somebody named 'Dempsey'," Yugi said. "And he mentioned Kaiba. It sounded like whoever Dempsey was, was duelling him."

"Do you think someone was duelling Kaiba while we were in your soul room?" Téa asked.

Yugi nodded. "But whatever the outcome would have been, Dempsey didn't get to finish it; Slater called him off before the end."

Joey scowled. "That's a shame; maybe Kaiba would have started to take this whole situation more seriously if he had lost."

Yugi laughed. "Beating Kaiba's no piece of cake. I have no doubt that Kaiba would have won no matter what happened. But I wouldn't be so sure about if he had lost; if I know how Slater works, then it was probably a Shadow Game."

"Do you reckon he'll come back here?" Bakura asked.

"He'd better; he took our only way out of here until the next tourist bus arrives," Joey fumed.

"Well," Téa said, "I guess either way we're stuck here for now. We're not going to get anywhere until morning."

"I'm just glad it wasn't too cold tonight," Yugi said. "I mean, it is England."

Joey checked his watch. "My guess is that we've got at least another hour before it starts getting lighter. We may as well get comfy."

Everyone nodded their agreement, and they sat down in a circle.

"Where did Slater say we had to meet him next?" Bakura asked.

Yugi hadn't even thought about it until now. "In Paris; on the Eiffel Tower."

Joey and Tristan whistled in unison. "How does he expect us to get there?" Joey wanted to know.

"Yeah," Tristan added. "It's not like moving from country to country is easy."

"France isn't that far from England," Téa pointed out. "It shouldn't be as difficult as going somewhere like back to America or Japan."

While the others entered into a discussion about how they would reach their next destination, Yugi's mind wandered.

He had almost lost them today. As much as Tristan was sure that Slater had been lying, Yugi knew in his heart that another second would have literally cost him the game, and the four souls of his friends.

Instead, it had cost Slater the four souls of his henchmen. The difference was that Slater didn't care; he was perfectly capable of getting by without them, and that was all he needed.

Yugi found himself thinking about Slater's henchmen. For whatever reason, they were following him faithfully, but he was using their very souls as currency in his games with Yugi. Would there be anyone to regret their loss? Slater certainly didn't.

But Yugi did. He couldn't have four souls on his conscience, whether they were his friends or otherwise. Slater had returned Lopez's soul when he lost to Bakura. Surely, he would be able to do the same thing in their next game.

But what about Mokuba? Kaiba had taken his brother with him when he left. For all Yugi knew, Dempsey and Kaiba could have been playing for Mokuba's soul. However, since their duel had been interrupted, Mokuba was still soulless whatever the case.

Slater had five souls at his fingertips. Yugi had to make sure that not one of them was lost for good, and get back the Millennium Items in the process.

Yugi pulled his 'I Love NY' duffel bag towards himself, and put the Millennium Key, which he hadn't realised he was still holding, inside it with the other items. He took out his Puzzle and hung it around his neck, grateful for its familiar weight.

Yugi allowed himself to feel relief. After all, if they had gotten this far, how bad could the next round be?

But his relief was short lived. Then again, with only three Millennium Items left, Slater would be more...motivated. And Slater still held all the cards, so to speak.

His thoughts were interrupted by his friends suddenly jumping to their feet. Turning around, Yugi saw a pair of headlights approaching. He scrambled to a stand too, just as Kaiba pulled up alongside them.

Kaiba stepped out of his vehicle, staring each of them down. "Listen, you dweebs, I don't care for any of your hocus pocus about what you think Slater's motives are, but Mokuba is still unconscious. I have a score to settle with Slater, and if I'm right, he was just here."

Yugi and the others looked at each other. "He was," Yugi said. He didn't bother mentioning the Shadow Game; Kaiba would just sweep it under the carpet as usual. "He left about twenty-minutes ago."

Kaiba looked unimpressed. "And you all just let him leave?"

Yugi wanted to point out that there wasn't much else that they could have done, but he didn't. He didn't even think Kaiba expected an answer. "You were just having a duel with one of his henchmen, weren't you?" he asked after a moment.

Kaiba snorted. "Please; that could hardly be called a duel. Maybe next time, Slater will send a real duellist to face me. He didn't even have the courage to accept defeat. Why don't you spare me the riff-raff and tell me where Slater is going to we can cut him off before he gets too far."

"France."

Kaiba looked at him.

"That's what he said. In Paris."

Kaiba turned around and opened the door of his car. When none of them moved, he turned around again. "What are you nerds waiting for? If you'd rather stay here, I have no problem with just leaving."

There was a short burst of mumbles before the five of them piled into the back of the car.

* * *

Odion and Marik arrived half an hour after the doctor made the call, by which time Ishizu was able to sit up.

She embraced each of her brothers with relief upon seeing them again. It was reassuring to see their familiar faces after the multitude of strangers who had passed her bed.

After their initial greeting, Ishizu got right down to business. "It was Slater – he was the one who stole the Items from the museum."

"Slater?" Odion asked. "You mean-"

Ishizu nodded. "Yes – the same one."

"Who is Slater?" Marik asked, frowning.

"He is a thief, who heard about the Millennium Items," Odion explained. "He tried to steal the ones our family possessed. You were too young to remember it at the time. Ishizu saw him and managed to stop him."

Ishizu nodded. "He was thrown in prison a few years ago; I thought we wouldn't have to worry about him again, but...Just before the theft I heard he escaped."

"Don't tell me you tried to stop him yourself!" Marik exclaimed, shocked. "You should have at least spoken to Odion and me."

Ishizu looked away. "I'm sorry, brother; there was no time. I heard about it too late; I barely had enough time to get there before he did. And I didn't even know if he would be there – but I wasn't going to take the risk."

"Then this 'Slater' has all seven Millennium Items now?"

Ishizu shook her head. "I disassembled the Puzzle; it at least is safe from him." She looked at her brothers, real fear in her eyes. "Listen to me; Slater is reckless and power hungry. He wanted all seven items and the fact that he has the last one and can't use it means that he would find the one person who can unlock its power."

"Yugi Moto," Marik said, realising.

"Exactly – if Slater can make Yugi solve the Puzzle, then he'll have all seven Millennium Items, and we of all people know how bad that would be. I've been asleep for a week; who knows what Slater could have done in that time?"

Marik was already getting to his feet. "We have to find Yugi."

"If my theory is correct, then Slater already has. All we can do is hope for the best," Ishizu sighed.

"What about you, Ishizu?" Odion asked.

Ishizu hesitated. "I don't know when I'll be able to leave, but you two have to promise me that until I am that you'll be careful; Slater is dangerous."

"Don't worry, Ishizu," Marik said. "You can count on us."

* * *

I think Marik is even harder to keep in character than Kaiba is :/ I guess that since he spent most of his screen time being evil, its difficult to portray him as a good guy like he is after season two :/ I'm sorrrrry, fellow fangirls D: Please don't hate me!

Thanks again for reading this far :D I love you guys *huggles*

~IA


	26. From London to Paris

I am SO SORRY for the delay in getting this to you O.o I've been on a school camp. It was lots of fun :D :D :D but yeah...I couldn't write :'D

I have a poll on my profile :) could you please vote on it if you have the time? O.o thank you :D *glomps*

Anyway, here is the twenty-sixth chaptei ;D Thanks again so much for reading! I love you guys *_*

* * *

Naturally, Kaiba had tried using the KaibaCorp DuelDisk system to track Slater's location by Dempsey's DuelDisk, on the assumption that the two of them were together. This idea was short-lived; of the hundreds of registered DuelDisk users, there was no 'Stephen Dempsey' among them, and to identify a false I.D. could have taken days. There was no choice but to meet Slater in Paris.

Thankfully, Paris itself was an easy distance from England.

It took them another two stiflingly silent hours in the rented car to reach London again, during which Yugi could only feel utterly alone. The knowledge that his closest friends were all in the car with him was a relief, but the complete and utter lack of dialogue in the two hours following their encounter with Slater had the same effect as having been alone.

Unlike on the way to Stonehenge, it wasn't Kaiba's presence in the car that was the cause of the silence, although it certainly didn't help knowing that his scrutinising eyes were continuously darting from the road to his unconscious little brother to each of them in turn. Yugi knew that the main reason was that none of them could think of what to say. Having this friends there with him was simply enough.

Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet was waiting for them when they arrived back in London. Yugi sighed with relief when they saw it; it would make the trip to France much quicker than any other conventional method of transport, even with the added time of returning to London from Stonehenge.

Kaiba still didn't speak to them when he gathered up Mokuba in his arms and carried him ahead to the jet. Yugi and his friends hung back, walking toward the jet more slowly.

It didn't take them long to be settled into the jet again. Without further ado, Kaiba was in the cockpit and the jet was taking off.

Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Téa and Bakura settled down in the cargo hold. They would have less than twenty minutes of time together before the jet reached Paris.

Yugi sighed. Suddenly remembering something, he opened his duffel bag and withdrew the Millennium Ring. "I guess you want this back."

"Thanks, Yugi," Bakura said gratefully, taking the Ring from Yugi and placing the cord around his neck.

There was a moment of silence.

"Slater won't have much time to prepare for us before we get there," Joey said. "I mean, he pretty much picked a location out of thin air. Not to mention that with this jet there's every chance of arriving in France before he does."

Yugi scuffled his feet. "We won't have much time once we get there before morning. Even with the head start, we have to wait for Slater to prepare the game, and there's every chance that he'll do it tomorrow."

"How do you suppose we'll know when to go?" Téa asked.

Yugi thought about this. It was a question he had been wondering himself ever since they had left Stonehenge. In the first round he had been kidnapped, the second Slater had sent a letter to Téa and Amber's apartment, the third had been a trap to lure Bakura and the fourth had just...happened.

"I suppose we could climb to the top and wait," Yugi said, thinking aloud. "Like we did with Stonehenge. That_ would_ mean we'd quite possibly arrive before Slater."

"Why are we even going at all?" Tristan wanted to know. "We can't seriously just throw ourselves into another one of Slater's traps. We have four Millennium Items; if we stand our ground, he'll come to us eventually on our own ground."

Yugi sighed, shaking his head. "I doubt it'll be that easy, Tristan. I mean, just look at what he did for the Millennium Puzzle." He absentmindedly picked it up with one hand. "He came to me, alright; but I ended up in an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere. At least if we go to the Eiffel Tower, we'll be somewhere more public, and that usually means safer." He hesitated. "Usually."

"So, it's agreed," Bakura said. "We're all going up to the tower together. The only question is when."

"He might send some kind of message like he did in America," Téa pointed out. "Or we may have to guess, like in Stonehenge."

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but whatever the case is, I sure could use some shut-eye before we go," Joey said, yawning. "I feel like I haven't slept in weeks."

Now that Joey had brought it up, Yugi could feel it too; the last time any of them had slept had been short, uncomfortable snatches of it in this very cargo hold on the way over from New York. Whether he liked it or not, his body was crying out for sleep.

But he couldn't envision sleeping at a time like this; tired as he was, Yugi was too tense, too restless, to even consider closing his eyes, let alone give away to unconsciousness.

Yugi stared at his feet, an idea already forming in his mind. It was a horrible, cruel, traitorous idea, but one he could - shockingly easily - see himself going through with. Double-cross his friends.

As much as he hated himself for so much as thinking it, it was the perfect solution. He knew his friends; they would stand by him no matter when or where he led them. It was this trait that made Yugi realise just how wonderful they really were; after all, it wasn't any ordinary friends who would allow their spirits to be taken back in time five thousand years, or to risk their minds in a virtual prison, or any of the other innumerable instances in which his friends had stood by his side during moments when Yugi needed them.

And it was this trait that meant Yugi couldn't let them come with him. He was sick of letting them risk their lives for him. His last Shadow Game had proven to him just how fragile their souls could be.

"I guess you're right, Joey," Yugi said. "We all need rest if we're going to face Slater. When we get there, we should find somewhere to sleep."

And so that was his plan; when they arrived in Paris, while the others were sleeping, he would go out without them and go to the Eiffel Tower.

And somehow, he just knew that Slater would be there.

* * *

It was almost dawn.

Nothing really seemed out of place upon their arrival; it was a smooth landing executed by Kaiba in the Paris Airport and as a billionaire, it was easy for him to explain away their sudden unexpected arrival there.

He turned up his nose when Joey so much as mentioned the word sleep. Yugi had to wonder if Kaiba even slept at all. Judging by the amount of work he claimed to get done on a daily basis, probably not.

"Listen, Wheeler; you can just slack it off if you want, but I'm going to find Slater," he said dismissively.

Joey was instantly on the defensive. "Shut up, Kaiba; just because you don't think you're a human doesn't mean you aren't one. Don't try telling me you're not-"

Kaiba snorted. "Wheeler, if you even knew half of what my life is like, you would have learned to forget the very meaning of the word 'sleep'. But if it makes you happy, fine. You and your friends can waste your time; I'll even let you stay in the cargo hold if it means I don't need to hear you preach about _humanity__**.**_" He made no attempt to disguise the sneer in his last word.

It was then settled. Yugi and his friends would remain in the cargo hold and get some rest, while Kaiba...

Yugi didn't know what Kaiba planned to do. They hadn't mentioned the Tower specifically, but he clearly had some kind of plan as to how he was going to find Slater himself.

Yugi was exhausted – there was no denying it. Despite this, he found it no difficulty to lie and stay awake while the rest of his friends nodded off one by one. Tristan was the first to go, followed by Téa, Bakura and finally Joey.

Yugi was reminded of a similar instance when they had been up against Dartz and the Oricalcos. He had snuck away like a theif in the dead of night.

And he had lost his soul. He had very nearly never seen any of them again.

He gulped. Was that going to happen now? Atem was gone; if anything happened to Yugi in his next game with Slater, there would be nobody to step in and help him. He was going to be on his own this time.

Trying not to think about the four people all sleeping unaware in the surrounding cargo hold, Yugi slowly got to his feet. He felt incredibly stiff.

The cargo hold door seemed deafening when it slid open. Despite this, none of his friends seemed to notice it. They just carried on sleeping.

Biting back his fears, Yugi stepped out onto the ground of the hanger where the jet was parked. There was nobody in sight.

He made for the exit, wondering how long it would be before anyone noticed his absence.

His question was answered not long after by a voice behind him. _No time at all._

"And where do you think you're going?"

Yugi spun around to face Seto Kaiba, standing a few feet away. "Kaiba! What are you doing here?"

Kaiba looked at him. "I've been here the whole time; hacking into the city's security systems with my laptop. I've got the entire airspace above Paris, not to mention most of the city, under surveillance. Slater isn't getting anywhere without me knowing about it."

Yugi didn't know how effective that would be, especially since Kaiba had never seen Slater in person, but Kaiba himself seemed to hold great faith in it. Yugi bit his lip.

"I asked you a question, Yugi; where are you going?"

"To face Slater," Yugi said matter-of-factly. "He's going to be at the Eiffel Tower, on the third level. That's what he told us. And I'm going alone."

"No you're not."

Yugi blinked, confused. "You're not going to wake my friends," he said instantly. "You just can't; they'll come along, and they don't know what they're getting-"

Kaiba sniffed. "Who said anything about your friends? I have my own reason for needing to deal with Slater, and if you're going after him, I'm coming with you."

All Yugi could do was stare. "Oh...thanks, Kaiba."

Kaiba returned to where he had been sitting, just out of sight, and picked up his computer. "Don't thank me; I'm not doing it for you."

* * *

I SAID 'IN AMERICA'! MY LIFE IS NOW MADE!

Please review :D I know this was a pretty short chapter considering how long it's taken me to update, but...D:

Anywaysah, Chapter Twenty-Seven shouldn't be too long ;D Thank you so much for reading as far as this ~.~ you are full of amazabubbletasicfulness.

See you soon ;D

~IA


	27. The Eiffel Tower

Thanks SOOOO much for waiting for the update :'D I'm soo sorry :(

I hate this chapter. I HATE it D: it has so many canon discrepancies, not to mention physical impossibilities, that, publishing it, I almost cringed *cringe* I hope you guys still like it though :'D I'm REALLY sorry it took me so long *cries*

As I said before: I only got to go up to level two and I used the stairs, not the lift. I have never been to the top of the Eiffel Tower D: And, believe me, it's easy to find out what the view is like on the net, but exactly what lies on the interior of the third level is still a total mystery to me :/ From what I gather, there is an enclosed walkway around the edge (Enclosed by glass or some other clear material) and some kind of inside bit. If you have been there, please tell me D:!

I realised too late that I forgot to mention in the last chapter that Yugi took the Millennium Items with him. Woops XD

Mild Seto OOCness in this chapter :( although, circumstantially, it's kind of understandable... :/

Oh, and...Yugi and Seto are Japanese. All the staff on the Eiffel Tower are French. Dempsey and Slater are American. They all understand what each other is saying. This is completely normal.

* * *

Yugi had absolutely no idea what time frame his mind was running on, but it definitely wasn't French. The way he felt right now, it was supposed to be the middle of the night. The broad daylight seemed unnatural.

He and Kaiba didn't exchange a word as they made their way from the airport. It was still early in the morning when the two of them boarded a tourist bus bound for the Eiffel Tower and took seats on opposite sides of the aisle.

Alone with his thoughts, Yugi was finally able to come to grips with himself. His jaw trembled as he fought to keep his head.

He couldn't believe what he had done; his friends had stayed by his side through all of this, and how had he repaid them? By running away like a criminal.

He felt especially bad about Bakura. Carefully, Yugi unzipped the I Love NY duffel bag he had taken with him and peered at the three Millennium Items within. Bakura had been sleeping heavily; slipping the Millennium Ring from around his neck had been unnaturally easy.

Yugi felt as though he was tearing open a hole inside himself. What had Slater pushed them to do? Mokuba had stolen from his brother, Seto had abandoned his company and flown all the way from Japan to New York to England to France, Téa had left in the middle of the dance course she had been struggling for her whole life to enter, Bakura had been forced to choose between his soul, Mokuba's and Amber's...and Yugi had done the worst thing of all; he had stolen from, lied to and abandoned his very best friends.

Maybe it wasn't simply his Shadow Games that made Slater such a formidable opponent. It was as though he had a knack for pushing other people to do wrongs of their own accord.

The busiest time for tourism around the Tour Eiffel was midday to late afternoon. Despite this, when he and Kaiba got off the bus, the queue at the tower's base was still enough to make Yugi cringe.

Yugi craned his head back to look at the Eiffel Tower. It was an impressive sight; at 324 metres tall and weighing over ten thousand tons, its sheer volume had the power to diminish the whole of Paris.

Was Slater already there? Would he have been able to reach the tower before them? It seemed unlikely, but knowing Slater, he probably still had a few tricks left up his sleeve.

Yugi would have appreciated the half-hour's grace afforded to him by the line of tourists waiting at the tower's base. Unfortunately, Kaiba didn't see it that way. Yugi didn't know how much he ended up paying for their tickets, but several minutes after they first arrived on the scene, they were boarding the lift.

Like Stonehenge, Yugi had to regret the circumstances under which he had visited the tower. It was impossible to enjoy its breathtaking view, or appreciate the vast amount of work that had been put into its construction, with Slater's next Shadow Game hanging over his head.

He peered at the roof of the lift as it zoomed upwards. For all he knew, that statement was quite a literal one.

Yugi missed his friends; he couldn't help it. He wanted their reassuring presence in the elevator with him. He wanted to hear Téa talking about how they could do anything if they stuck together. He wanted to see Bakura, with his Millennium Ring, understanding Yugi's turmoil like nobody else did. He wanted to hear Tristan and Joey discussing whether or not they were stopping at one of the restaurants on the way back down, having unswayable blind faith that Yugi would be victorious. He even wanted to hear Kaiba telling them all to shut the hell up.

Yugi looked sideways at Kaiba. His brow was set in a deep furrow and his sharp blue eyes were staring out at Paris without seeing it. Yugi didn't try to speak to him with so many tourists in the lift with them. He clutched his duffel bag to his chest.

The lift spat them out on the first floor. Some of the tourists left and others entered. They sped on up to the next of the three levels.

Yugi took the Millennium Puzzle from around his neck, his heart pounding. This could quite possibly be his only chance...

He closed his eyes. _We can win this, Pharaoh._

He pried the first piece out and let it drop into the duffel bag. After that, it was a simple matter to break apart the rest of the pieces. Soon, the bottom of that stupid I Love NY bag was littered with the fragments of Yugi's beloved Puzzle.

He wished he could take comfort from the fact that now, whatever happened, Slater would still need Yugi's help to solve the Millennium Puzzle. Even if Yugi lost this time, Slater would be back to square one.

Neither Yugi nor Kaiba had any desire to linger on each floor. They simply made straight for the top level. When they reached the second, there was another queue waiting to use the lift.

Yugi cast Kaiba a glance. The CEO had bought some kind of ticket that enabled them to go straight to the top, express. Yugi just hoped they didn't upset any tourists when they essentially just skipped the line-

"Everyone, down, down, down, the tower is being evacuated."

The voice was that of one of the Tower's many staff. He and his co-workers had started ushering the dozens and dozens of tourists towards the lifts and the stairs.

Yugi stared at him, dumbfounded. Evacuate the Eiffel Tower? Was something like that even...possible?

"I'm not going anywhere," Kaiba said scornfully as the man tried to make him leave. "I have official business to take care of here."

Yugi tried to see the top of the tower from where he was standing on the rim of the middle floor. "What's going on?" he asked, trying to get his bearings. He clutched the bag, now containing four Millennium Items, closer to himself.

"There's some kind of commotion at the top," the workman said. "Some kind of danger. That's all I know, I'm afraid; now, if you would please be so kind as to join the rest of the visitors and leave the tower in an orderly fashion, this is a safety measure..." He trailed off as another group of tourists ran up to him and started complaining about having been forced to leave.

Yugi had no idea what to do. If it was Slater at the top of the tower, causing this commotion, he definitely couldn't leave, but there didn't seem to be a way of-

"_There really is no need for all this fuss; I only specified that I wanted the top floor emptied, not the rest of the Tower. I'm sure all the lovely tourists would be very happy to witness this spectacle from the floors below._"

"It's him," Yugi said.

At that moment, Yugi's blood turned to dry ice. Somehow, Slater had arrived in Paris before them. And he was here, on the Eiffel Tower, waiting for him at the top.

Up until now, Slater's Shadow Games had been private affairs held away from the public eye. Yugi had never imagined that this one would be on display for the whole world to see.

There were two helicopters hovering beside the top of the Tour Eiffel like a pair of giant robotic hummingbirds. It was from one of these that Slater's amplified voice was coming.

"_I believe that we're finally alone up here. Well, except for the cameras, of course; I'm sure this is something the great game enthusiasts out there wouldn't want to miss. You can come up now, Yugi._"

There was total silence. All eyes turned to Yugi as he made his way, hesitantly towards the lift.

A chorus of words followed him. He didn't pay them any attention; the onlookers had no idea what was going on. They didn't know that it was Yugi whom Slater wanted.

Kaiba was already inside the lift when Yugi walked into it. The doors slid quietly shut.

"Slater is dangerous," Yugi said matter-of-factly.

"So you've told me. I think I can take care of myself, Yugi; unlike you, I don't need my friends to constantly back me up."

Yugi looked at him. "Isn't that what you're doing?" he couldn't resist asking.

Kaiba looked offended. "I back up nobody and am backed up by none. I do everything my way."

Yugi smiled to himself. He would never say it aloud, but he was glad to have Kaiba there with him.

The lift doors slid open to reveal the third and final floor of the Eiffel Tower.

Whatever Shadow Game was to take place here would be awkward to say the least; the small space affordable at the top was ideal for visiting tourists, but unconventional for Slater's purposes to say the least.

"Seto Kaiba; it really is an honour."

Yugi jumped at the sound of Slater's voice. The man was standing several feet away, flanked by a dozen of his armed henchmen. Yugi noticed four unconscious figures behind them; the four victims of Slater's last Shadow Game. Had Slater really bothered bringing them up?

Yugi didn't even ask how Slater and the rest of his companions had managed to get up to the top of the Eiffel Tower unnoticed. Slater seemed to have a way for everything.

Slater held a small device to his mouth. "And, ladies and gentlemen, our competitors have arrived!"

Slater addressed Kaiba again. "I must say, I'm a great fan of your company; it is, quite possibly, the wealthiest company whose security systems I haven't been able to compromise." He laughed, clearly finding this funny.

Kaiba took a step towards Slater, not at all daunted by the twelve guns trained on him. "Spare me your remarks, Slater; I'm here to make you pay for what you did to Mokuba."

Slater widened his eyes with mock confusion. "Oh, what _I _did to him? Hasn't Yugi told you what happened?"

Kaiba set his jaw. "All I need to know is that you comatised my younger brother, and for that you're going to-"

Slater burst out laughing. "You really don't have a clue, do you? It wasn't my fault, what happened to your brother. _I_ set it all up so that your brother would be fine. It was one of Yugi's own friends who did it to him."

Kaiba laughed dryly. "You expect me to believe that? Yugi's friends may be useless but they're not dangerous."

Slater shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Kaiba didn't say a word. He just stared unwaveringly at Slater.

Slater clapped his hands. "Where were we? Ah, yes; I'll be wagering this lovely necklace-" In a single motion, Slater pulled the Millennium Necklace from his jacket "-and you, Yugi, the contents of your duffel bag. Ah," he said suddenly, pretending to be surprised. "But I see you've already taken it upon yourself to disassemble your Puzzle. I don't suppose there's any chance of you solving it now?"

Yugi just shook his head.

"I didn't think so. Very well, then; I can't have you losing your soul on me when you're the only one who can solve the Millennium Puzzle. I'll deal with that later." He looked thoughtful. "Therefore, nobody's soul will be at stake here. At least, nobody who already has one."

"What are you talking about, Slater?" Yugi demanded.

"In this Shadow Game, there will be a prize for the winner. But this prize...will not be what we have wagered." He smiled wickedly. "Our wagers will be just that; wagers. You will be betting on yourself, Yugi, and I will be betting on Seto Kaiba."

Yugi was about to nod when these words sunk in. They sunk into Kaiba at the same time. "What?" they both asked.

Slater's lip twitched with amusement. "It's so lovely in Paris this time of year, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about, Slater?" Kaiba practically hissed.

"I mean, who would want to be playing Shadow Games on a day as nice as this? I wouldn't." Slater's lip curled. "But since you two are such game fans, I thought it would be nice to let you fight it out amongst yourselves."

"And what makes you think I'd agree to something like that?" Kaiba asked coldly.

"Because if you win, I'll return Mokuba's soul." He smiled. "And if Yugi wins-"

"Stop it, Slater; I'm not a fool. I don't believe in all of this hocus-pocus about losing souls," Kaiba said. "You can't magically cure my brother."

Slater looked at him as though he was a three-year-old asking where babies came from. "Be honest with yourself, Seto...you yourself have experienced penalty games, had your mind probed, been sealed within a Duel Monsters' card, been transported back in time, witnessed a single body split into two...to say the least. Shall I go on?"

For a second, Yugi could have sworn he had seen a flicker of doubt cross Kaiba's face.

"And at any rate!" Slater insisted, "Haven't you been waiting to duel Yugi for two years? The entire world is watching; why let them down now?"

He didn't wait for an answer. "It's settled; Yugi and Seto shall have a Shadow Game. If Seto wins, I shall claim Yugi's Millennium Items and Mokuba's soul will be returned to his body. If Yugi wins, he will receive the Millennium Necklace and the four souls of my minions-" He gestured to the four unconscious men behind him. "will be saved."

Yugi couldn't believe what he was hearing. Him, duel Seto? Atop the Eiffel Tower?

He could see what Slater's plan had been; and once again, Mokuba was being used as a puppet. Yugi was still unable to forgive himself for having cost Slater's four henchmen their souls. He wanted to save them, just as he had wanted to save Lopez. But Seto wanted to save Mokuba, which was only natural. Only...Yugi wanted to save Mokuba too. The boy had put himself through so much to help him.

Yugi gulped. Did he truly want to win this duel? It was completely immoral to decide whose souls were saved.

Not only that, but...this was obviously impossible. "The structure we're standing on is over a thousand feet high and spent forty-three years as the tallest building in the world. There's no room for a duel up here," Yugi stated.

Slater laughed. "The structure we're standing on? Who said anything about standing on structures?" He snapped his fingers for attention theatrically and gestured to the two helicopters circling the third and final level of the Eiffel Tower. "An impressive pair of duelling platforms, _oui_?"

Yugi just stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. "You want us to duel in mid-air? On _helicopters_?"

Slater shrugged. "Why not? The KaibaCorp DuelDisks are 3D hologram projectors; they don't require a surface to project onto, and it would certainly make a grand display."

Yugi looked sideways at Kaiba. "We can't agree to this, Kaiba!" he insisted. "It's just dangerous – not to mention _wrong_."

Kaiba didn't answer. For several seconds, he didn't even show that he had heard. And then:

"I'm sorry, Yugi. But I'm going to save Mokuba." He didn't look at Yugi.

Yugi couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I want to save him as much as you do, Kaiba, but there must be another-"

"_What_ do you know about how much I want to save him?" Kaiba demanded, rounding on Yugi. "What do you know?" His voice was practically a snarl. "Did he run away from you because you forgot he was the only real friend you ever had? Did you neglect him because you didn't realise how much he missed you when you were right in front of him? Did you fail to see the meaning in his eyes every time he asked you if you were working today?" His eyes were ablaze with fury. "Was the last thing you ever said to him 'We have a company to run'?" Kaiba grabbed Yugi by his collar and brought him into a headlock. "_Was it_?"

Yugi flinched. "Kaiba..."

Kaiba released Yugi and turned to Slater. "If you're lying, _Slater_, you're going to regret it."

Slater drummed his fingers together. "Then it's settled; it's game time."

* * *

The wind wasn't so hard as to unbalance Yugi from his spot on the helicopter, but balance was still difficult to maintain; they were far less stable than they had appeared from the ground as his helicopter encircled the top of the Eiffel Tower.

He was standing at the open door as if he were preparing to skydive; his spiky hair buffeted around his head in the wind, and he had to hold onto the side of the chopper with the arm that wasn't wearing his DuelDisk.

Opposite him, Kaiba stood in a similar situation on the other copter. Despite the instability of the surface below his feet, he was standing tall and upright, with neither hand supporting himself.

Yugi gulped. This was it.

From the speakers fitted onto the outsides of both copters, Slater's voice rang out to the two duellists and the hundreds tourists and gathered locals below – not to mention whoever was watching on their televisions – as he spoke from his position on top of the tower, just below the nonexistent duelling arena. "_And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for!_"

Suddenly Yugi heard his voice in his ear from the earpiece the helicopter's pilot - another one of Slater's henchmen - had given him; a separate system which allowed Slater to speak to Yugi and Kaiba privately. "What are you waiting for, Yugi? Start the Shadow Game."

For a second, this didn't quite sink into Yugi. Then he realised; in order for the game to be a Shadow Game, one of the contestants required a Millennium Item. And out of himself and Kaiba...

Was Slater really suggesting that _Yugi_ be the one to take the duel to the Shadow Realm? Casting a hesitant glance over his shoulder into the cargo hold of the helicopter, Yugi looked at the duffel bag that now contained five Millennium Items. Suddenly, he understood why Slater had let him take it onto the chopper with him.

Yugi knew that in order to claim the items, Slater had to win them in a Shadow Game, or in this case, a bet on one. He couldn't simply fly away, having stolen them as he had done in the museum when they hadn't belonged to any one person.

But neither could Yugi; if he ever wanted to win back the Millennium Necklace, and later the Millennium Rod and Eye, he had to win a Shadow Game. And the only way to make this game one was to do it himself.

Slater laughed. "You know you have to do it, Yugi; otherwise, what's the point of this game? Admit it; you want to get a hold of all seven Millennium Items as much as I do, and you can't do that without the help of the Shadow Realm."

_But it's not for the same reason, _Yugi thought, trying to hide his panic. _He wants the items for power and greed; I want them to give back to Ishizu and make sure they never belong to people like Slater._ He hesitated. _Although...much as I hate to admit it, he's right; if this isn't a Shadow Game, there's no guarantee that he'll hand over the Millennium Items and whoever's soul at the end. _

Trying – and failing – to keep his hands steady, he retreated back into the copter, fumbling with the zipper on the duffel bag.

He recalled what he had thought on the way here; Slater had a knack for making people do wrongs of their own accord. At the time, it had been mere speculation, but now...here he was; about to bring his and Kaiba's souls into the Shadow Realm.

He didn't know how he held himself together when all he wanted to do was curl into a ball and forget about Shadow Games and Millennium Items and Duel Monsters and helicopters...it was so much to bear.

But he would bear it. He knew he would.

Hesitantly, Yugi looked through the bag at the five items. How could he be having turmoil now about which one to use?

His Puzzle was in pieces; using it was impossible. The Ring...it was Bakura's; Yugi couldn't bring himself to touch what he had stolen. He looked at the Key and the Scales and instantly thought of Shadi, who had sacrificed his soul to help the Pharaoh defeat Zorc. Yugi's heart clenched at the thought of using the ancient spirit's former items to start a Shadow Game.

Finally, he looked at the Millennium Necklace. That was the item he was trying to win, right? He bit his lip, thinking of Ishizu, lying in a hospital bed because of Slater.

He clenched his fist, picking up the Necklace. It was Ishizu who had saved them all when she had first disassembled the Millennium Puzzle, and it was Ishizu who was going to save them now; he would use her item to create the Shadow Game that would win back the next item.

_If _Yugi was able to defeat Kaiba. Looking across at him, Yugi saw that his opponent hadn't moved an inch and was still staring at him intently.

Yugi gulped. This was, effectively, the first time he had ever duelled Kaiba; every other time, it had been Atem.

He reached for the spot against his chest where the Millennium Puzzle usually hung. Even without it around his neck, Yugi could have sworn he still felt its weight. _Here we go, Pharaoh; lend me your strength one more time._

"Okay, Kaiba!" A massive adrenalin rush soaring into his veins like none other he had felt in the two years since the Ceremonial Duel, Yugi activated his DuelDisk. Despite everything around him, a crazy smile infected his face. "It's time to duel!"

* * *

Annoying authors note that is probably longer than the story itself:

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY :D Lol – random aside there :P SO~ You can consider this chapter my birthday gift to all of you *warm fuzzies all around* ;D

ANOTHER DUEL XD At first, this idea intimidated me. Then I just 'meh'ed and got over it. I'm pretty sure this will be the last one in the story :/ I reckon I'm just going to cut out a massive chunk in the middle rather than doing it move by move like in chapter- (What was it? O.o Anyway – the one with Dempsey) chapter X.

I'm not sure what happened to those weird hologram projector thingies that fly out of the side of the DuelDisks; they weren't there for GX (In the few episodes I've gotten around to watching XD) so, for the sake of the whole 'card game in the sky' I've given them the miss (Since they must have dissapeared at some point in the ten years between DM and GX anyway :/). If Jaden and Alexis can have a duel standing on boats in the water, and there is such thing as CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYLES (XD) then Yugi and Seto can have a duel in helicopters. Maybe. Sorta. Ish. Not really. Okay, just forget that last comment :'D

The most obvious problem here is the fact that (I'm pretty sure) the top of the Eiffel Tower isn't open topped so in order to have a flying duel above it, you'd need to smash the roof O.O! I wasn't trying to be subtle when I just skipped the 'getting onto the helicopters' part entirely XD Now you see what I mean about 'physical impossibilities', _oui_? ;D

Once again, I'm SO sorry for taking this long D': I really hate that I've neglected this story so much – I mean, come on~! It was my first baby :D The first story I ever published on this site, and still my favourite ^^

Anyway – I'm sorry if I've broken a few canon bits and pieces here but...I'M SORREEEEEE D: Please don't hate me D: I love you guys so much :'D

Anyways, please leave a review~! C: Thank you~! I love you guys SOOOOO much :D :D :D :D :D~! :D *glomp* Seriously, if I met you randomly on the street then you would have to run away because otherwise I would love you to death *.*

Huzzah~!

~IA


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